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ZOOLOGICAL &ARD£^-S 






MONTH IN LONDON; 



OR, SOME OK ITvS 



MODERN WONDERS DESCRIBED. 



Bv JEFFERYS TAYLOR, 

AUTHOR OF " THE LITTLE HISTORIANS/' " ESOP IN RHYME,' 
•• THE FOREST," &e. 



LONDON: 
HARVEY AND BARTON. 



GRACECHURCH STREET. 






Joseph Rickerby, Printer, Sherbourn Lane. 



MONTH IN LONDON, 



An elderly gentleman, of the name of Hazelford, 
was sitting one day at dinner with his two grand- 
sons — Harold and Edward Vernon, children of 
his deceased daughter — when the sound of ac- 
tive feet, ascending the six stone steps before 
his door, attracted the attention of the young 
persons, and presently a sounding report from 
the huge brass knocker echoed through the 
house, which made even the grandfather drop 
his knife and fork, and look over his spectacles 
towards the door. Nothing was to be seen at 
present but the corner of a shaggy great coat 
through the parlour blinds; nor was much to 



i: INTRODUCTION. 

be heard for some time, but the riotous responses 
of trusty Yaffer, a favourite little poodle dog, 
whose fat sides shook vehemently, as he barked 
at this unusual disturbance of Mr. Hazelford's 
lone and quiet country-house. 

Bridget, who could not move with quite so 
much activity as when, thirty years before, she 
entered service there, nevertheless paced the 
sanded kitchen, and the stone ball with accele- 
rated steps, urged to unwonted speed by her own 
powerful curiosity. At length the spring-bolt 
was drawn back: — " Does Mr. Hazelford live 
here.?" 

" Yes, sir, certainly.'' 

" Then tell him that Mr. Henry Hazelford 
of New York wishes to see him.'' 

But the delivery of this message was so far 
needless; for the old gentleman had risen from 
table, anxious perhaps to know the particulars 
of this unexpected siege ; whilst Harold and Ed- 
ward neglected their plum-pudding, for some 
such reaison. For a moment our venerable friend 
stood speechless: he replaced his glasses, and 
drew them off again, as if doubting their faithful- 



INTRODUCTION. O 

ness in this instance. At length his grey eye 
glistened; his aged features showed strong emo- 
tion, and extending his hand, he grasped that of 
his visitor, and in a voice tremulous with joyful 
feeling, bade him an English welcome to his 
table. 

There was a time, some forty years ago, 
when a great many people thought that they 
could live happier and do better in any country 
than in England; and that America, especially, 
was the land wherein restlessness would be cer- 
tainly rewarded with tranquillity, and indolence 
with wealth. Our elder Mr. Hazelford had once a 
younger brother, who at that time could see no- 
thing but a wilderness in the verdant hills of his 
own native country ; whilst the golden glories of 
the western world seemed to be represented by 
every setting sun. He determined to remove 
with his family, and counted hours till his de- 
parture. At length he turned his property into 
money, gave up a neglected and then declining 
profession to his brother, and left his land, to 
see its shores no more. Change of climate, waste 
of means, the death of his wife and three chil- 

B 2 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

dren, weakened by grief his strength of mind 
and body. He sunk into the grave in about 
seven years^ leaving his only son, whom he had 
just placed with a storekeeper of New York, to 
inherit his diminished fortune and a part of his 
somewhat enlarged experience. 

Leaving the friends awhile to talk over family 
and other affairs, on this interesting occasion, we 
f^ai take some notice of West Hill House, the 
residence of the elder Mr. Hazelford. It was 
built of red bricks, and four-square, rather in 
the formal style, and had a heavy Dutch roof, 
with dormar casements, looking each way. Of 
narrow sash-windows, with very thick bars, 
there were two even rows. A projecting bow- 
window over the door was supported by sturdy 
oaken pillars, shaped out with some skill and 
care. The knocker before mentioned was a brass 
dolphin, whose likeness, however, had suffered a 
little from regular and frequent polishing. The 
hall was large, and had a spacious fire-place at 
the end ; the wooden frame-work of which ex- 
hibited a curious specimen, in its structure and 
carving, of the tasteless ingenuity and perse- 



INTRODUCTION. 



verance shown by hovise-decorators about two 
hundred years ago. The staircase, spacious but 
heavy in appearance, was once grand. Spiral 
balusters and angular carved rail-beams, accom- 
panied them from landing to landing ; whilst the 
stairs themselves, of substantial thickness, were, 
like them, brightened by weekly labour, bestowed 
with wax and brushes, as on the furniture. 

From the back-front of the house a pretty 
English view met the eye. The daisied pas- 
tures, with their numerous flocks and herds; 
the corn-fields, rolling onward their golden waves 
before the pursuing breeze. The more distant 
woods, reaching from a narrow point on the left, 
formed the principal feature on the next line of 
view. Then this dark green mantle was richly 
edged by the winding river, whose bright stream, 
like a silver band, divided the forest from the 
fields. Beyond, far beyond, in a clear day, could 
be discerned a pale blue streak, not much un- 
like those thin clouds which often hang in the 
horizon: that was part of the distant county of 
Kent. Then there was the dark blue sky, 
finely contrasted by dappled white clouds, which 



6 INTRODUCTTON. 

floated high in the vast vault of heaven. These 
were some of the beauties of nature^ and such 
always claim our first notice and regard; for the 
immediate works of the Almighty must always 
be more admirable and interesting than any thing 
which the hand of man can produce. Yet man 
has done much ; and as the powers of mind and 
body with which he acts, are God''s creation and 
especial gift, we do honour to Him still, if we 
thus reflect, when we admire a fine building, a 
canal, a piece of mechanism, or any work of art. 
From the upper windows of this house you might 
observe the course for many miles of a canal, 
which, now embanked in a valley, or delved 
through a hill, pursued its even purpose to the 
Thames. Four windmills twirled their busy sails 
in sight, whilst a distant column of smoke marked 
the passage of an engine-driven vessel to the dis- 
tant Nore. Again, by leaning out a little, and 
looking the other way, the dusky cupola of St* 
PauFs might, in a very clear day, just be dis- 
cerned. But the indications of London were 
more conspicuous after the close of twilight. 
^he horizon gleamed with the midnight splen- 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

dours of the vast city. It was the mind of man 
that blazed forth there, and formed, as it were, a 
new luminary in the midnight heavens. 

Mr. Henry Hazelford, though by long resi- 
dence in America he had become naturalized 
to that country, so that he viewed with a sort of 
pride its rising greatness and unbounded pro- 
spects, retained also a considerable attachment 
to his native land, and viewed its institutions 
with admiration, and its prosperity with delight. 
He expressed himself on these points much to 
the satisfaction of his worthy host. 

" The thing is," said that gentleman, '' you 
are an Englishman born, and have not seen 
a better country, though you have travelled 
a good deal. However, we must not suppose 
that foreigners in general speak of it as you 
do.'' 

" National partiality is too apt to blind the 
eye and pervert the judgment,'' said Mr. Henry. 
'^ I wish to be free from prejudice, but not from 
a national preference; and there is no harm if, 
in this latter point, we are influenced by family 
and local attachments — by a taste for manners 



INTRODUCTION. 



and circumstances to which we may have been 
used, without injury to the character. But the 
great thing still is, to go on enquiring, and lay- 
ing by knowledge as we obtain it. What do 
you think has brought me across the Atlantic 
thus unexpectedly?" 

" Some good purpose, I trust,**^ said the old 
gentleman. 

" My purpose is, sir, to inform myself, as well 
as I can, of the real progress of England in the 
grand improvements of the age; and as the 
metropolis of course presents the most striking 
and important specimens, I propose to spend a 
month in London." 

''Oh, London! London!" said Mr. Hazel- 
ford: "forty years ago I thought I knew it well 
enough to tell all about it as I sat at home; but 
now, I reckon, it would be as strange to me as 
to those lads ; for my infirm health has kept me 
long at home. I suppose you passed through it."' 

"Just so; but I had not a moment to spare 
for observation. Do I understand that these 
young gentlemen have not yet seen Lon- 
don.?" 



INTRODUCTION. \) 

" No sir, no sir; we have not been yet!" was 
the dejected reply of the individuals referred 
to. 

^^ Aye, the lads want to go," said Mr. H.: 
" and I think they should; but I know not how 
to manage it. I could not undertake to guide 
them there, infirm as I am, and they must not 
go without a leader."'' 

The boys seemed wonderfully interested in 
the turn which the conversation had just now 
taken, and whilst the two gentlemen whispered 
together, their countenances expressed the pecu- 
liar animation of sudden hope. 

" Why, now,'' said Mr. Henry, '' it does so 
happen, that my design is to note down observa- 
tions for the use of our youth at home, and I 
think I should be not a little assisted by the re- 
marks made by such parties themselves. I have a 
friend in town, who will receive and help us all, 
strangers as we are, during our visit and en- 
quiries. Say, sir, shall these young gentlemen 
accompany me.^" 

Mr. Hazelford deferred his reply for a minute 
or two; but his face indicated, as the boys 

B 5 



10 



INTRODUCTION. 



thought^ a favourable conference with his own 
objections. Some of these he hinted at. 

" Harold," said he, " you told me yesterday 
you had no money." 

The lad's countenance fell, but he whispered 
his brother. " Edward has got five and seven- 
pence, sir, and he will lend it to me. I can 
borrow " 

" Hush ! hush ! borrow is a worse word than 
lend^ which many have found bad enough. I 
think I told you, when you bought that parrot, 
that you would wish your money in your pocket 
before long; but again, who is to attend the 
bird in your absence?'^ 

" Oh ! grandpapa, I am sure Mrs. Bridget " 

" Ah ! there is borrowing again ; — first money, 
and then time of others." 

But it was evident, to the keen eye of the per- 
sonage addressed, that these difiiculties would in 
some way be surmounted, for there was a good- 
humoured smile playing about the corners of 
their grandfather's mouth all the while. So I 
shall not detain my readers with the adjustment 
of objections and impediments, but merely in- 



INTRODUCTION. 



11 



form them here, that in a few days after this, 
Harold and Edward found themselves in the 
coach travelling to London, with their American 
relative, each of the boys having a sovereign in 
his pocket ! 



To those who have passed the period of youth, 
and are frequently compelled to resign the green 
fields and blue sky, the quiet hours and rural 
pursuits of the country, for the crowded streets 
and harassing engagements of London, the ap- 
proach to it by any road is disliked, as it leads to 
accustomed objects, and a gloomy day. None 
of the party in question, however, felt in this 
way, of course. As for our two young friends, 
only those who, like them, can remember visiting 
London from the retirement of the country for 
the Jirst time^ will be able to realize their sensa- 
tions. All that has been said or read, taught or 
thought of the great city, tends to an enhance- 
ment of the still visionary idea ; and this, cherish- 
ed in the warm imagination of a child, and 
uncorrected by a single glimpse at the fact^ 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

grows almost to the notion of streets a mile wide, 
houses as large as a street, and public buildings 
reaching to the clouds. 

The repeated questions, "Is this London.^ is 
this London?" as our party drove through Strat- 
ford, Bow, and Mile-end^ could scarcely be re- 
plied to by their American friend, who could not 
be supposed to know that which residents cannot 
exactly point out — the line where those once 
villages end, and London really begins. A 
gentleman travelling with them, however, pos- 
sessed a store of information on matters of the 
kind, and seeing how the case stood, he very 
obligingly gave the enquirers the benefit of his 
knowledge. 

" We are now passing Whitechapel church,"' 
said he^ " and may fairly call ourselves in Lon- 
don, though still some way from the bounds of 
the ancient city." 

In an instant, a strange apparatus of mental 
scenery was removed from the imagination of 
our juvenile travellers : they plainly perceived 
that houses were only houses, and shops were 
only shops, and few of them so showy as those of 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

a rural town on a market-day. They also dis- 
cerned that tiles were tiles, and bricks were 
bricks, notwithstanding the coat of soot and dust 
with which they were invested. 

"What do they colour houses with here?" 
was the simple enquiry of Harold: "they are 
neither white nor red."" 

The Londoner smiled. 

" I shall learn something of town myself, I 
find/' said he: "we cover our walls with a dif- 
ferent composition from that used for a country- 
house. It comes cheaper too, for it is done by 
the smoke from a few chimnies; which, if you 
have time, you may notice and try to count, 
from the top of St. PauFs. Our houses are 
nearly all of brick, and are roofed generally with 
tiles." 

And now the slow progress of the stage 
amongst the hay-carts, gave opportunity to ob- 
serve the utmost splendours of the butchers' 
shops on the left-hand side. 

" Oh ! Edward, there are three, four, five, 
butchers' shops all in a row! stay, six, seven! 
I cannot count them. Look ! look at that 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

man with a white cap and a long beard ! Where 
are we?'' 

The coach now turned suddenly across the 
way, and entered, with rattling violence, the nar- 
row gate-way of the far-famed Bull Inn, Aid- 
gate. It is well that the friendly Londoner 
was by the side of the too curious Harold, who 
leaning out, was near a dreadful accident, which 
has occurred before now — I mean, the fracture 
of the head against one of the side posts at the 
instant of passing them! The boy was pulled 
down by the gentleman with a force only equal 
to the occasion. All were alarmed, all felt thank- 
ful, and none were hurt. Let this be a caution 
to others who may not have an experienced per- 
son at hand on the watch for their safety. 

^' What a smoke! what a dark morning!" 
were the first observations of the lads as they 
stepped out of the coach. 

At this instant the stranger, who had previ- 
ously alighted, was accosted in the yard by the 
name of Finsbury. Mr. Hazelford could not 
help starting a little, which Mr. F. observing, 
said: "It strikes me that we ought to know 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

something of each other. My name is Henry 
Finsbury, of the city." 

" Then am I saved some uncertainty," said 
the American, " by a most interesting coinci- 
dence of events. My name is Hazelford cf 
New York f 

" That is as it should be. I am heartily 
glad to see you/' said Mr. Finsbury. " Glad!" 
added he, pressing his hand: " I ought to say 
thankful, for the opportunity of showing that I 
have not forgotten a friend who proved himself 
nobly such many years ago." 

" It happened," replied the American, " that 
I could serve your turn and my own at the same 
time, on the occasion to which you refer. I 
performed an act of justice, and have received 
the reward of an act of generosity, in compara- 
tive prosperity, ever since.''' 

Whilst the party thus pleasingly brought to- 
gether were at breakfast in the inn, Mr. Hazel- 
ford explained the general purport of his visit, 
and was by no means mistaken in his expecta- 
tion of a ready welcome for himself and the lads, 
to the house of Mr. Finsbury. That he had a 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

house and comfort about him, was indeed owing^o 
an act of conscientious rectitude in Mr. Hazelford, 
in an affair which placed the power to do an im- 
portant wrong in his hands. He chose to do 
right to his own disadvantage. It is not wonder- 
ful that such conduct, amidst so much of violence, 
injustice, and narrow selfishness, as we find in the 
world, should obtain the name of magnanimity. 
We have, however, nothing further to do with 
these incidents on the present occasion, than to 
explain by them, the nature of Mr. Finsbury's 
circumstances towards his American friends. In 
a short time the party, now consisting of four 
persons, found themselves at that gentleman's 
residence, near the Bank. 

And now some of our readers may be aware, 
that one day in London, to those who visit it for 
the first time, presents more novelties and objects 
of interest, than could possibly be described in a 
little book like the present; and if we are to note 
down all that was remarked, asked, and replied to, 
in the case of our juvenile spectators, it is evi- 
dent that we should not get through a morning's 
walk in the space herein allotted for a month. 



THE THAMES AND THE TUNNEL. 17 

We cannot, therefore, attempt to accompany 
Harold and Henry with their friends, except on 
certain occasions, and when they are visiting 
objects of primary, and rather novel interest at 
present in London: — things which mark the 
progress of British genius, enterprise, and know- 
ledge in our vast metropolis. These, as we are 
already informed, were the chief matters of en- 
quiry and attention with the American visitor. 
The ancient objects of interest were, however, 
not neglected; but these have most of them 
been described in works with which our readers 
are at present acquainted. In attending there- 
fore, as we shall chiefly do, to things which 
form the features of new London, we shall 
begin with perhaps the greatest wonder, which 
is, 

THE THAMES AND THE TUNNEL. 

Harold and Edward were so completely at 
a loss to conceive what sort of a thing this 
Thames Tunnel could be, that they looked in 
a dictionary previously to setting out, in order 
that they might not appear quite so ignorant as 



18 THE THAMES AND 

on some former occasions, and as they really 
were. But, somehow. Dr. Johnson had not 
dreamed of the thing in question, apparently, for 
he afforded no explanation, or even hint, which 
could give the lads the idea of the thing they 
were going to see; so they kept their curiosity 
to themselves pretty well, as they proceeded 
through the numerous and narrow streets lead- 
ing to that part of the river. At length they 
alighted near a narrow passage, at the entrance 
of which stood three or four men in sailors' 
jackets, who seemed to have given a pretty good 
guess at the purpose of the visitors, by their 
solicitous repetition of — " A boat, sir ! " "A boat, 
sir!'' 

" Aye, a boat, if you please,"" said Mr. Fins- 
bury; " and a dry one, if convenient." 

The waterman shot like lightning down the 
alley, and immediately after was heard giving 
orders to a boy to make ready his scull! 

" His scull !"' repeated the boys, with amaze- 
ment. 

''Yes," replied Mr. Finsbury, drily; "we 
are to sail over the Thames in the waterman's 



THE TUNNEL. 19 

scull! People in London, you see, have some- 
times strange things in their heads.'' 

By the time our adventurers were seated in 
the narrow, slight vessel destined to receive 
them, they understood that a boat of that sort, 
rowed by one person, is called a scull^ or sculler^ 
on the river. Neither of the lads had been in 
a boat before. The only voyage they had ever 
performed, was across a pond near their grand- 
father's residence, in a flat brewing cooler, which 
had been placed there to close its cracks. A gar- 
den-spade was used on one side for an oar, a large 
kitchen shovel on the other; both which instru- 
ments of navigation found their way to the bot- 
tom in a very few minutes. Expeditions of a 
like kind were ever after forbidden by the higher 
powers. 

Our American friend was indeed struck with 
admiration, at the finest sight which the first 
metropolis of Europe has to show — the river 
Thames, with its shipping and adjacent ob- 
jects. 

" How many times," said Mr. Hazelford, 
''' have we heard and talked of this far-famed 



20 THE THAMES AND 

Stream. By Englishmen extolled as the pride 
of Europe — ^by Americans scorned as a petty 
rivulet, compared with many rivers of the west- 
ern continent. But without exaggeration or 
prejudice on either side, it is in itself a mag- 
nificent sight. How much more so with its 
floating forest of vessels, its crowded banks 
towering with the works of a great nation, its 
elegant and expansive arches ! 

As for Harold and Edward, surprised and de- 
lighted as they were, they had not, as mere 
youths, knowledge enough to comprehend fully 
the real extent and magnitude of the objects 
before them. The river indeed appeared like 
the sea to them, and could scarcely be dis- 
cerned as longer than it was wide. Mr. Fins- 
bury, understanding that a little information 
would be agreeable, during their passage, sup- 
plied the following particulars, which perhaps 
may be new to some. 

'^ Father Thames obligingly travels two hun- 
dred miles to assist Britons in their commerce. 
He finds his way at first as a rivulet in Glouces- 
tershire ; not to the Severn, which would be a 



THE TUNNEL. 21 

near and ready outlet; but through the heart of 
England to her eastern shores. At first he has 
the advantage of running down hill, by a pretty 
brisk descent; but from Brentford to the Nore. 
a distance of sixty miles by the river, the real 
fall is only seven feet — not an inch and a half 
to a mile!*" 

" He stays the longer, that he may do the 
more good,*" observed INIr. Hazelford. " He has 
certainly opportunity thus to expand himself in 
the plain, for such I suppose the site of London 
may be called ; thereby assisting more leisurely 
and extensively the operations of man. Water- 
man, how far down the river does the shipping 
stand thus.f^^' 

" From London Bridge to Deptford,'' was 
the reply. 

" And w^hether these are our own vessels or 
foreigners' it matters not." continued Mr. Fins- 
bury, " they all bring 'grist to our mill^'' as the 
saying is, and increase the commerce of our me- 
tropolis. The southern banks are lined with 
manufactories and warehouses, whilst on the 
northern side, national structures connected 



22 THE THAMES AND 

with the port — such as the Tower for its de- 
fence, the Custom-house for the transaction of 
government claims on the shipping, and docks 
for the construction and reception of vessels, 
fully testify the grand importance of this river.'' 

^^ Where do these ships sail to?" was the 
enquiry of Harold. 

" To every coast which has a name upon your 
map, I might almost say,'' replied Mr. Fins- 
bury. ^' At least, I am safe in asserting, that 
this river has borne upon its bosom vessels which 
have visited, at some time or another, every peo- 
pled strand that can be mentioned. I perceive 
that we are now near the stairs ; but have time 
for the lines of Pope on this subject. 

^ From his oozy bed 
Old Father Thames advanced his reverend head. 
His tresses dressed with dew, and o'er the stream 
His shining horns diffused a golden gleam. 
Graved on his urn, appeared the moon that guides 
His swelling waters and alternate tides ; 
The figured streams in waves of silver rolled. 
And on their banks Augusta rose in gold!' 

" It is time now," said Mr. Finsbury, ad- 
dressing the lads with a very serious face, " to 



THE TUN^^EL. . 23 

inform you, young gentlemen, that the boat will 
not render its assistance much longer — we must 

GO UNDER !" 

'' Go under!" repeated the boys, with much 
alarm. " Oh, sir! are we sinking?"' 

'' Not exactly so, at present; but I feel per- 
suaded that in a few minutes we shall be many 
feet below the surface!" 

The lads eyed the waterman, but he only 
looked unusually cunning, that was all. 

" Let us hope that all will end well," continued 
Mr. F. ^^ I have heard of persons rising after 
a time, and being dry and well in a few minutes. 
Have not you, waterman?" 

'' Why, yes, sir, that's true," said he, winking; 
"but I knowed some as got more than they liked 
on'f once, in that very place where you are going, 
and when they had thought all was safe." 

But the boys, seeing that Mr. Hazelford, so 
far from appearing uneasy, could scarcely re- 
strain his mirth, took courage, and thought that 
somehow they should live to see the wonder out. 

" I think you are laughing at us, sir," said 
they. 



24 JHE THAMES AND 

" Am I ? Look at me," said Mr. F. with a 
face of undeniable gravity. '^ Stay: let us take 
care of ourselves as long as we can.'' 

The boat was now paddled chiefly with one 
oar, until it approached a parcel of boats lying 
at the foot of some stone steps. With much 
skill and address it was pushed, pulled, and 
wedged safely amongst them, until the water- 
man sprung out, and making fast the little roll- 
ing vessel, extended his sturdy arm for the 
assistance of his passengers in landing. 

'^ We are not under yet," said Edward, ex- 
ultingly, as he and his brother gained a footing 
on the stairs. 

" We shall be very shortly, and that you 
will confess,*" repeated Mr. Finsbury. 

" Yes ; but not under water ^' retorted Ha- 
rold, " or else we could not confess any thing 
at all about it." 

^' Under water you shall fee,'' insisted Mr. F. 
at the same time seizing him, so that he really 
expected a ducking. 

The whole party, however, proceeded from 
the stairs to a small door, having the words, 



THE TUNNEL. 25 

' Tunnel Office' upon it. The words seemed 
to the lads to have an air of dread as well 
as mystery about them, and they followed in 
anxious silence. 

" Have a little mercy,'' whispered Mr. Hazel- 
ford. 

'' I will have a great deal presently," whis- 
pered Mr. F. 

They now ascended a flight of steps, and 
found themselves in a building occupied by vast 
machinery. They then descended, I know not 
how many separate flights of wooden stairs, down 
a sort of well, as it seemed. At the bottom an 
astonishing sight presented itself. The arch- 
way, whose length the eye could not measure, 
was wide enough to admit a coach and horses. 
It was supported by prodigious piers on one side, 
and by a curved v^all on the other, and lighted 
by brilliant lamps, at regular distances, and tra- 
versed by several gay parties : it so amazed the 
lads that they quite forgot their late alarm. 

" Now what do you say to being under 
water?" asked Mr. Finsbury. 

" Where is the water.?*" enquired the lads. 

c 



26 THE THAMES AND 

'• Over your heads, as truly as the earth m 
under your feet." 

The look of mere perplexity on the counte- 
nances of the boys, showed plainly that the 
time was now come for the intended explana- 
tion. 

" A tunnel," said Mr. Finsbury, " is a hol- 
low, artificial passage for smoke, fluid, or any 
thing else; and this is one dug under the very 
bed of the Thames, and which was designed^ 
instead of a bridge, to form a communication 
from one side of the river to the other."' 

^^ Then the Thames is really above us!" 

" It really is; and so may an Indiam.an be^v 
for what I know. A subterranean, or under- 
ground passage, is by no means a new or un- 
common thing; but one subaqueous ^ or under 
water, has never been carried on to this extent.*" 

" I perceive that Englishmen," said Mr. Ha- 
zelford, '' though living under an old govern- 
ment and ancient institutions, and surrounded by 
venerable remains of the disused works of man, 
are not themselves superannuated yet. But one 
may well enquire for the utility of this, in its 
present state." 



THE TUNNEL. 27 

" Why, certainly ,"' said Mr. Finsbury, " it 
is nothing better than Turn-again-lane, to any 
one now. John Bull is afraid to sink any 
more of his money.*" 

" What is that dark place under the arches, 
on one side?*" enquired Edward. 

" That was intended for passengers going the 
the contrary way. It is not fitted up, and so 
is not exhibited.*" 

" And when was it begun, and when will it 
be done?'^ 

" I can answer the first question, but not the 
second/' said Mr. F. " The history of the 
Thames Tunnel is, I believe, shortly this :■ — 

" About seven years ago, Mr. Brunei, a cele- 
brated engineer, proposed the plan, which was, 
to make a way from one side of the river to the 
other, where it is a quarter of a mile broad, and 
at a distance of a mile and a half from London 
Bridge. He calculated that he could make an 
underground tunnel for less than a quarter of 
the expense of a bridge, and that the traffic, 
when done, would yield a large profit. He got 
others to think so too. A large sum of money 

c 2 



28 THE THAMES AND 

was subscribed, and in March, 1825, the foun- 
dations were lowered, of the well, or shaft, as it 
is called, by which we descend. For some time 
all went on as well as could be expected, though 
continual difficulties occurred; but at length a 
very disastrous day disconcerted the excava- 
tors. The Thames burst through from above, 
and drove them from their work." 

" You are speaking of the first irruption, I 
suppose,"* said Mr. Hazelford. 

'• I am. The aperture, however, was re- 
paired, the water pumped out, and the under- 
taking proceeded. But, alas ! a short time 
after, the misfortune recurred with far more se- 
rious results. It was, I believe, in January, 
1828, that Mr. Brunei, who was on the shield 
or framed roof, made for the protection of the 
workmen, discovered the water oozing through 
rather faster than was usual. I believe that 
sufficient notice was not taken of that solemn 
warning; for the men continued their labours 
until an immense mass of earth was forced into 
the tunnel. The water rushed with such im- 
petuosity, that the force of the driven air 



THE TUNNEL. 29 

knocked one man down, and extinguished the 
lights. The noise created by the torrent of 
water was tremendous, and deafened the ears of 
those present. Mr. Brunei, with several men, 
was thrown down, and got entangled in the 
wood-work; whilst others, dashed with violence 
against it, or unable to gain the surface, pe- 
rished. Six thus lost their loves. Mr. Brunei, 
who seems to have acted with o;reat courao-e 
and humanity, swam out, and was carried by 
the rush of water some way up the stairs. 

" Thus was a stop put suddenly to this splen- 
did undertaking. The work is now entirely at 
a stand. A brick wall has been built at the 
further end, to prevent accidents there. I un- 
derstand that they want i?l 00,000 to set them 
moving again ; but there are few hopes now of 
raising any such sum on this speculation.*" 

" Pray, sir, how did they stop the holes 
which the river made for itself.^" demanded Ha- 
rold. 

" It was a difficult business, I assure you,'** 
said Mr. Finsbury, " and occupied the minds of 
many beside the engineer. The plan at last 



30 THE THAMES AND THE TUNNEL. 

was this. They dropped down from barges, large 
and innumerable masses of clay, and clay in 
bags, and gravel. Then a large, flat, wooden 
raft was sunk, to prevent those materials from 
moving. It was some time, however, before 
they could so far stop the leak, as to get rid of 
the water in the Tunnel, even with the aid of 
the stupendous steam-engine, which pumped it 
out; but the mischief was remedied at last, 
though the public confidence has never been 
restored to the grand but unfortunate pro- 
ject." 

The attention of the company was now drawn 
to a beautiful representation of the Tunnel, as 
if completed, exhibited by an ingeniously illu- 
minated lantern. The effect was so skilfully 
managed as to impose upon the eye a mere 
illusion, for an absolute fact of vision. 

And now the curiosity of our enquirers be- 
ing pretty well satisfied, they returned to the 
upper regions of things, and found the light 
of day no unpleasant change from the gleam. s 
of the gas-burners in the Tunnel. The party 
not feeling fatigued, after re-crossing the river 




m 
N 
y 

e 

e 



H 



ST. KATHARlNE^S DOCKS. 31 

in a boat, proceeded on foot, that they might 
view St. Katharine's Docks, and the new Lon- 
don Bridge, on their way home. 

It was evident, from the conversation and 
manner of the two lads, as they left the Tunnel, 
that an impression had been made on their 
minds which time would not speedily erase, 
and that new sources and currents of thought 
had been opened, which were likely to bring in 
a continued series of new ideas with a necessary 
influx of knowledge. 

" Do you hear how those boys are talking 
about it?" said Mr. Finsbury, aside to his 
friend. " How much do those parents lose of 
easy advantage to their children, who spare the 
shilling for such sights as these, and spend the 
guinea on amusements v/hich, if harmless, do 
them no good.'** 

" Those boys,'** replied Jlr. Hazelford, '' will 
henceforth have an entirely different notion of 
the possibilities of human effort, and will spring 
a dozen rounds on the ladder of knowledge, 
during this month in London. I suppose we 
are now at the docks in question.*" 



32 ST. kathauine's docks. 

'' We are," said Mr. Finsbury: " and we 
must explain them as well as we can; but the 
object is not so simple, and intelligible, and in- 
teresting, perhaps, at a glance, to youths of 
their age; though they really are superior to 
many in taste, quickness, and intelligence." 

"What is this place .^ and what is it for.^^^ 
was the two-fold demand of our young friends, 
on entering the works. 

" Do you know what a dock is, Harold?" 

" A tall weed with a long root and large 
leaves, which grows in a meadow."" 

" And yet I see no such things here, though 
these are the largest docks in England. But 
come: I have taken your jest — now favour me 
with your earnest." 

" Well, then, a dock is a place for ships, 
sir." 

" So is the ocean. Now attend. Take care 
of that truck, which might force you over the 
coping. Ships, you know, are large buildings 
which cannot be constructed, like others, on a 
spot to be occupied by them when in use. Men 
could not well put a vessel together on the 



ST. Katharine's docks. 33 

water, nor could they move it far by land-car- 
riage; so a place is contrived by the water-side 
which allows the water to be excluded for build- 
ing. These docks, however, are intended as an 
artificial harbour for vessels to enter, and deliver 
and receive their cargoes. See now the action 
of one of the cranes constructed for this purpose. 
Those hogsheads of sugar — how would you go 
to work to lift them out?'" 

" I would pull them out with ropes,*" said 
Edward. 

'' Pull yourself in, rather,'" said Mr. Fins- 
bury. " No. hands will do nothing here till 
the head has first worked. Here, you see, is an 
overhanging beam of vast strength, fixed to an 
upright one, which enters the earth, perhaps 
twenty feet, and is enclosed in a socket prepared 
for it, which allows it to revolve ; then, by passing 
a chain over a pulley at the further end, and coil- 
ing it round this roller, the object would be ac- 
complished by hooking the goods to the chain, 
and turning the roller. But the strength of a 
dozen men would scarcely do this without some 
further mechanical assistance. That roller, you 

c 5 



34 ST. Katharine's docks. 

see, has a large iron wheel with strong cogs fixed 
to it. Now don't you see, that the winch is not 
fastened to this, but to a much smaller toothed 
wheel, which is engaged with the larger one. 
Now two men can work it, because the winch acts 
as a powerful lever in their favour. That clink- 
ing noise is caused by a catch, which allows the 
cogs to pass that way, but which would prevent 
their running back, in case the men should lose 
their hold; otherwise the winder would fly 
against them, and give a fatal blow." 

"Oh, there it comes! there it comes! But 
how slowly!'' 

" Yes: it is a law in mechanics, arising out 
of the nature of things, that as we gain power 
we lose time; but then in this, and a hundred 
other cases, the time is in fact saved another 
way, by doing that in five minutes with a ma- 
chine, which might take as many hours by man- 
ual labour. By losing time, therefore, here, 
we only mean that the roller does not turn round 
so fast as if the winch were to revolve as it now 
does, and were applied to its centre; so far, 
however, from circulating thus, it would be 



ST. Katharine's docks. 35 

found that human arms could not move it at 
all. Now observe that the hogshead being at a 
sufficient height, the whole concern winds round, 
and brings the goods to land, where they are 
lowered as wanted. So much for this sort of 
crane. But here we come to a machine of a far 
different sort : it finds its own labourers, and 
has the power of two hundred horses !" 

The stupendous steam-engine for filling and 
emptying the basin of the St. Katharine's 
Docks, could not possibly be so surveyed by 
our young friends, during their brief visit, as to 
be fully comprehended by them. Far less is it 
practicable, by mere description, to put our 
readers in possession of the nature of its com- 
plex mechanism. Mr. Hazelford, to whom this 
grand invention was famihar, kindly supplied 
a few general hints, however, to the young gen- 
tlemen, which may be useful and interesting in 
some degree. 

" Here,'** said he, " we see the power, not of 
muscle, but of mind; — mind which, perceiving 
a potent agent in an air-borne cloudy vapour, 
and applying its force to iron beams and bars, 



36 ST. Katharine's docks. 

accomplishes results which seem like the work 
of the elements themselves." 

'' By this engine/'' observed Mr. Finsbury, 
" water enough is pumped into these docks to 
float a hundred and fifty vessels." 

" Which the tide probably would not do 
under some hours,"' continued Mr. H. 

The lads were now engaged with their friends 
in examining, as far as they could advantageous- 
ly and with safety, the general forms of the ma- 
chinery. As they were retiring, Mr. Hazelford 
continued: — 

'' For ages, the vapour was suffered to escape 
unheeded, from the culinary vessels even of en- 
lightened, enterprising, and scientific nations. 
The kettle boiled, and what then.? The wisest old 
dame never thought that the steam was capable 
of turning her spinning wheel, or beating up her 
plum-pudding ; nor were the old women, in these 
respects, more ignorant than the men; for all 
looked on, and neglected to make any use of the 
gigantic powers before them — 1 say, any use^ 
for play-things, or philosophical toys actuated by 
steam, were invented at least by one of the 



i 



ST. Katharine's docks. 37 

ancients. Hero, of Alexandria, who lived more 
than a hundred years before the Christian era, 
describes a machine made to revolve by the force 
of steam; but it is merely its puffing force which 
is exercised, and the machine performs nothing 
by its action. Some others, in later ages, varied 
the thing so as to obtain a somewhat different, 
but still a useless result. The IMarquis of Wor- 
cester was the first who contrived a method of 
bringing steam into action as an important me- 
chanical mover; though by no means the first 
who discovered the principle, as he and some 
others have erroneously taught. I believe his 
first exploit was the bursting an old cannon." 

"As that can be done other wavs," said Mr. 
Finsbury, " and is seldom desirable, we do not 
canonize him for that." 

" Certainly not," continued Mr. Hazelford, 
" nor even for the next result of his experi- 
ments, which was something better. He un- 
doubtedly applied the power of steam so as to 
raise a column of water forty feet. By little and 
little, and at considerable intervals, ingenious men 
proceeded with steam mechanism. Dr. Papin, a 



38 ST. Katharine's docks. 

Frenchman; Captain Savory; Newcomen, a De- 
vonshire blacksmith ; and many others, hammered 
at the same thing. It remained for James Watt, 
a mechanician of Greenock, to construct an en- 
gine capable of application to general purposes. 
We cannot attempt to follow him amongst his in- 
numerable difficulties; but may perhaps under- 
stand the great principles of steam-engines, as 
contrived by him, and which are, with a few im- 
provements, in use at present. A vast boiler is 
employed to contain the water, which is heated 
until it passes off rapidly in steam. But this 
steam, which, if accidentally resisted, is capable 
of bursting metal, however thick and strong, into 
a thousand pieces, is accommodated with one way 
of escape, in which is fixed the apparatus which 
it is required to move. Do you know what a 
pop-gun is, young gentlemen.^'"' 

" Oh yes!" said Harold, ^^ I do; and I shot 
a paper bullet by mistake into Edward's eye 
once, when he said I could not shoot at a 
mark." 

" He^ then, I should think, knows also what 
a pop-gun is. Well, the bullet or pellet, you 



ST. Katharine's docks. 39 

know, is forced from the further end when you 
insert the one nearest you by the power of com- 
pressed air. Now the steam from an engine- 
boiler is made to pass into a cylinder or tube, 
which I will compare to that pop-gun, whilst 
your rammer, w^hich I will suppose to have a 
well-fitted pellet Jixed to its end, shall be the 
piston^ as it is called, of the steam-engine. If 
then the steam, which you know is in a hurry, 
and will go out somewhere, is admitted beneath 
that piston, the lower end of the pipe being 
sealed, it must drive the piston, and whatever 
is attached to it, upwards. There is one stroke 
gained. Now, if we can manage suddenly to 
condense this steam, by bringing it into contact 
wdth cold water, there will be neither steam 
nor air to occupy the place. A vacuum is 
then occasioned, and the piston will descend 
Avith vast force in consequence. That is the 
second stroke. I admit a fresh puff of steam 
immediately — the piston ascends; 1 condense it — 
the piston falls; and thus I can go on, so long 
as I have fire and water to w^ork with. The 
steam is called the maintaining poiver: this is the 



40 ST. Katharine's docks. 

grand thing. When once we have got a mover, 
it will be comparatively easy to attach things to 
be moved in the form of lever-beams, crank- 
wheels, and so on, until we can raise a rock from 
its foundation, or untwist a spiders web!/' 

" As to the power and use of these engines 
in Great Britain now,"' said Mr. Finsbury, " it 
can scarcely be calculated. There are at least 
ten thousand of them at present at work in this 
country, performing a labour more than equal to 
that of two hundred thousand horses, which, if 
fed as usual,- would require a million of acres of 
land for their subsistence, which land would main- 
tain one million five hundred thousand human be- 
ings ! An ingenious foreigner has calculated that 
the great pyramids of Egypt might be raised in 
blocks from the quarries, and built in that form 
by this amount of power, in eighteen hours ! and 
he reckons, at the same time, that the same 
work must have taken the labour of one hun- 
dred thousand men for twenty years. So much 
for the Steam- Engine. Without the enormous 
one placed here, these docks would be nearly 
useless : it is necessary that the water should be 



ST. Katharine's docks. 41 

changed in or out at pleasure. These docks 
have cost, I believe, a million and a half of 
money. They cover twenty -five acres of land; 
and remember, they can accommodate a hun- 
dred and fifty vessels, and I believe were built 
in less than twelve months by one thousand 
men. We will now pass over this bridge.'"* 

Here another novelty was experienced. Whilst 
the party were engaged in their observations, 
Harold exclaimed: "Oh, Sir! where are we 
going.? We are all riding somewhere!'' 

It was even so : the bridge parted in two in 
the middle, and the part on which our party 
stood turned round with them and several other 
persons; the opposite half turned as well, and 
no means whatever appeared of passing over the 
water. It happened, though, that to a vessel be- 
neath, the circumstance was highly convenient ; 
for it enabled her to pass into the docks without 
any trouble in lowering her masts. When this 
was done, the bridge again began to move: the 
halves slowly returned, and met each other with 
a jerk; the foot-way was again complete, and the 
passengers proceeded as usual. 



42 LONDON BRIDGE. 

" That/^ said Mr. Fiiisbury, " is caUed a 
swing bridge, A most ingenious contrivance it 
is: the intention of it I need not explain. It is 
moved sometimes by a winch and wheel-work, 
and often merely by a long beam used as a lever 
or handle. 

LONDON BRIDGE. 

Although so much had been seen in one morning 
by our travellers, yet, as the Old and New London 
Bridges were so near, and lay almost in their 
road home, they determined to pay them a visit 
now by means of a boat, which would give them 
a water view of those interesting structures. 
Passing the Tower of London and the new Cus- 
tom House, of which, if we have opportunity, we 
may speak on a future occasion, they soon came 
in sight of that venerable fabric, which for cen- 
turies formed the only road communication for 
the metropolis with the other bank of the river. 

As they approached, Mr. Finsbury pointed 
out the starlings or projecting piers, which were 
intended to protect the fabric from the weight 
and violence of the stream. 



LONDON BRIDGE. 43 

" There are those living," said he, '' who can 
remember tall houses built on those foundations, 
which formed a street of busy shops on the 
bridge itself. They were, however, a great in« 
cumbrance to the bridge, and a hindrance to its 
thoroughfare : they were therefore removed many 
years ago."' 

" We certainly have better bridges than this 
in America,'*' said Mr. H. " Your architects, 
I think, had little skill then." 

" It was built in the twelfth century, my dear 
sir; at which time I have some doubts whether 
your American architects had better skill to 
show." 

" Why true: you have us there, certainly. I 
rather think too that the Hazelfords had little to 
do in the western world at that time: nay, for 
any thing I know to the contrary, our ancestors 
helped to rear the very bridge before us." 

" And mine might have had a hand in the 
job also,'** said Mr. Finsbury; '' so we will share 
the praise and blame between us — I taking the 
former, and you the latter, by which arrange- 
ment the largest portion falls to you !" 



44 LONDON BRIDGE. 

Mr. H. took off his hat and made a low bow. 
" Sir, I thank you most profoundly." 

The lads smiled, and all proceeded to the 
nearest stairs, by which they landed, and gained 
admission within the enclosure belonging to the 
works of the new bridge, which was then un- 
finished. 

" The building, though incomplete, is too far 
advanced," observed Mr. Finsbury, " to show 
us much of the process of this sort of architec- 
ture now. They have, I see, nearly done the pa- 
rapets and paving. Now, friend Hazelford, will 
you talk about excelling us in the bridge way .^" 

" Certainly,'' replied Mr. H. " for I now have 
a much better view of the deformity of your old 
bridge close by : but that we have criticised 
already. This is a noble work for human heads 
and hands, on which we stand.'' 

" We must not forget," said Mr. F. " that 
this structure extends very far on arches over 
land as well as water. The approaches will be 
so managed as to make little or no rise on the 
bridge itself. For this purpose, streets and 
churches have been taken down, and a road 



LONDON BRIDGE. 45 

thrown up, under which the thoroughfare of 
Thames-street now passes. This bridge was 
begun in the spring of 1824. 

" Then they have been seven years in build- 
ing it!" said Edward. 

" Do you think that long?^"* enquired Mr. 
Finsbury. " When we have noticed the other 
bridges, which we can do as we stand, we will 
talk a little of the mode of proceeding. But now 
let us turn our eyes westward. Compare that, 
which is Southwai*k Bridge, with the Old Lon- 
don, and then see what a difference modern 
taste, science, and money, have made. Say the 
length of time between the two erections is five 
hundred years.'' 

" How ugly London Bridge looks now V ob- 
served the youths. 

" It is unsightly and dangerous," replied Mr, 
F. " and will not much longer annoy us. My 
lads, tell me if you see any thing remarkable 
about South wark Bridge.^" 

" It is remarkably pretty ,''' said Harold, 

" Yes,'' said Edward; ''but I can see through 
cross bars over the ends of the arches. Oh! it 
is very different !''' 



46 SOUTHWARK BRIDGE. 

^' So it is/' said Harold; " and the arches 
have quite another shape: how flat they are !" 

" Those are the particulars chiefly observable 
from hence/' said Mr. Finsbury: '^ that is a 
cast-iron bridge,'''' 

The lads seemed hardly to comprehend that 
this could be the case. 

" The piers are of stone/' continued Mr. F. 
^' but the arches are of iron, cast in innumerable 
pieces, each of the exact shape to fit in and sup- 
port the structure, and, in fact, the whole was set 
up at Rotherham in Yorkshire. The width of the 
middle arch is two hundred and forty feet : the 
others are two hundred and ten each. It is the 
most stupendous bridge of the kind in the world. 
The weight of the iron alone is five thousand 
three hundred and eight tons ! The ends of the 
piles (which we will explain presently) are forty 
feet under water. It was five years in build- 
ing, and cost eight hundred thousand pounds!^' 

'' How many more bridges have you ?^' en- 
quired Mr. H. 

^' Four," was the reply: '"^ Blackfriars, Wa- 
terloo, Westminster, and Vauxhall, making six 
bridges, for one, which served our ancestors. 



WATERLOO BRIDGE. 47 

Blackfriars we just see over the Southwark: it 
was built, I think, about seventy years ago. It 
is reckoned ornamental, but I believe is some- 
what insecure. Waterloo Bridge surpasses all 
in extent, elegance, and magnificence : it is placed 
at the bend, or elbow of the Thames, where it is 
one thousand five hundred feet in width, and 
stands on nine beautiful and equal arches of a 
hundred and twenty feet span. The whole 
length, with the approaches, is more than three 
quarters of a mile! If I am not mistaken, the 
cost was above one million two hundred thousand 
pounds.'*'' 

" Who pays all the money for these bridges.^" 
asked Harold. 

'^ Most of these, and similar public works for 
national convenience, are paid for by a com- 
pany; that is, a number of persons agree to 
pay so much money for a share, or shares, in 
the concern, which it is supposed will be a 
profitable one, of course. I believe, however, 
there is not one in ten of these speculations that 
benefit any but the public at large: often the 
real subscribers to the undertakino^ are ruined. 



48 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. 

Waterloo Bridge, T understand, does not pay 
one per cent. London Bridge has revenues of 
its own, which are abundantly sufficient for re- 
pairs or rebuilding. Westminster Bridge was 
built by a Frenchman about ten years before 
Blackfriars: there is nothing very remarkable 
about it. Vauxhall Bridge is a recent erection, 
composed partly of cast-iron, but not exactly on 
the principle of the Southwark." 

By this time the morning was nearly spent, 
and our enquirers being somewhat fatigued, post- 
poned the view of any further wonders until an- 
other day. In the evening Mr. Finsbiiry gave 
the youths the following information respecting 
the construction of bridges. 

" When a bridge," said he, " can be accom- 
plished by a plank thrown over the stream, and 
a few stakes driven in, the wonder is not very 
great, nor the labour or skill remarkable. But 
w^hat is to be done when the stream is far too 
wide and deep for such means and materials.^ 
How do you suppose those piers were built, their 
foundations being many feet under water, young 
gentlemen.?" 



CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. 49 

" I suppose," said Harold, " that they first 
dropped the large stones out of ships into 
the river, and when they were high enough, 
perhaps they might begin to build regu- 
larly." 

" And so you think,'' said Mr. F. " that those 
beautifully regular arches, and that immense 
weight, required nothing better for a foundation 
than a loose heap of stones, dropped as near as 
they could guess in their proper places.^ No, 
no, men might in that way choak the river up, 
and send it through the streets on each side; but 
a bridge could not thus be built. The ancients 
sometimes turned the course of a river for a 
while, in order to give them access to the foun- 
dation for their bridges, but generally, the mo- 
dern plan is to drive a double row of piles or 
stakes round the spot the pier is to occupy. The 
intervals between the piles are then rammed full 
of clay, so as to form a complete walled enclo- 
sure. The water in the middle is then pumped 
out, and so they arrive at the very bed of the 
river, which is as convenient for their operations 
as any other piece of ground. These enclosing 



I 
J 



50 CONSTRUCTION OF BKIDGES. 

and excluding walls form what is called a coffer- 
dam,'''' 

" Then the workmen have a high wall of 
water all round them?"' observed Edward. 

^' Exactly so. And what do you think they 
first begin to build with ?" 

" Great square stones,"^ was the reply. 

" No/' said Mr. Finsbury ; " the bed of the 
river is in general of too soft a nature to be 
trusted with the prodigious pressure of a bridge 
pier. A more substantial foundation must be 
prepared; and for this business they usually em- 
ploy several monkeys,^' 

" Oh! dear sir, you are joking with us!*" ex- 
claimed the lads. 

" No, indeed/' said Mr. F.; " and it would 
be to little purpose you should joke with them. 
They are amongst the most useful of the name; 
downright hard-working ones, who readily obey 
the direction given them, and this certainly in a 
very striking way." 

Harold began to look very arch ; and to 
solve the enigma, if any, at once asked if the 
monkeys in question would really crack nuts. 



CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. 51 

'' Undoubtedly," returned Mr. F.; "I know 
of no monkeys which could perform in that way 
so completely. But now, to set the jest on one 
side, the case is this. Long and strong timbers, 
sharpened and pointed with iron at one end, and 
having an iron ring or collar at the other, are 
driven perpendicularly down, side by side, so as 
to fill up the space on which the pier is to be 
built. Now, the knocking those wooden giants 
down is not to be accomplished by one's fist or a 
sledge-hammer; a block of iron, therefore, of 
vast weight, is raised by machinery over the 
head of the pile, and when perhaps twenty feet 
above it, is suddenly released, when it descends 
with so much force, as to thrust the timber 
visibly downwards. This operation is repeated 
until the timber is sunk to its proper level. Now 
the hlock-head^ which performs thus the oflBce of 
a hammer, is called by engineers a monkey: the 
whole machine is called a pile-engme; so, when 
these timbers are driven down as close and 
as low as they will go, their tops are sawn level, 
and on this surface of timber-ends the super- 
structure is raised." 

d2 



52 cojnstruction of bridges. 

'' How wonderfully are the ingenuity and 
assiduity of man exhibited by that process!" 
said Mr. Hazelford. ^'It takes hours sometimes 
to drive a pile a foot or two ; yet at last it goes, 
and so must its many neighbours, in compliance 
with the designs of human science." 

'^ The use of this pile-system may, I think, 
be shown thus," said Mr. F. " A nail may be 
driven into a deal board by blows from a ham- 
mer weighing perhaps scarcely twelve ounces ; 
but if you discontinue the blows, and wish to 
drive the nail by mere pressure, you will find 
that a hundred times that weight applied as such 
will scarcely be sufficient to move it further in. 
The term monkey^ as applied to the driving- 
block for piles, is borrowed, I think, from sea 
language. I believe that, in modern bridges, 
the tops of the piles are covered with a platform 
of boarding"' 

" And now," said Mr. H. " let us hear what 
our young architects would do next towards the 
erection of a bridge."'' 

'' We must build the piers high enough," 
said Harold, ''and then spread them over to 
make the arches.'' 



CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. 53 

" Spread them undei\ I should think,'' added 
Mr. F.; ^' no, we must thmk agam. Anarch, 
when built, requires no support but from the 
piers. It bears itself up in the middle, and, if 
properly constructed, the greater the weight the 
stronger it is. But Kutil the last stone in the 
circle is inserted, it is, of all buildings, the most 
overwhelmingly ponderous and determined to 
fall. This therefore must be suitably provided 
against. A vast structure of timber is formed of 
exactly the size and form of the intended arch, 
and capable of sustaining its whole weight until 
completed. This frame-work is called the center- 
ing of the arch, and is put together with great 
art and science. And now, what do you think 
about the shape of the stones of which the arch 
is composed.^*" 

" I suppose they must all be made very square 
and even," said Edward. 

" Wrong again,"" said Mr. Finsbury, smiling. 
" Square stones would never form an arch." 

Mr. Finsbury then exemplified the thing by 
means of a shelf full of books, not used, how- 
ever, exactly in the way which their authors 



54 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES. 

designed. Placing them arch-fashion as well as 
he could, it was soon evident that they required 
to be thicker one way than the other. By 
wedging them slightly open with paper, they 
were just made to sustain themselves as required. 
Every stone of an arch is cut to the utmost 
nicety, so as to be the exact shape wanted in its 
own proper situation. '' Nov*^ think what labour, 
and skill, and knowledge must be exercised, be- 
fore such works as those we have seen can be 
completed!" 

" But,*" said Harold, '' I remember, when 
the new bridge was built at Missingham, they 
used the same bricks that had been taken from 
an old house, and made a great arch without 
altering the shape of them." 

^' A very good hint for explanation, '** said 
Mr. F. ; " bricks are imbedded in as much mor- 
tar as tills up the wedge-like intervals between 
them; but in bridges scarcely any cement is 
used. The piers and arches of a bridge being 
built, it is easy to conceive that a road can be 
formed over them, and parapets or balusters 
placed on each side, for safety to the passengers. 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. 55 

I was just going to observe further, that so great 
is the accuracy and the stability of the masonry 
in modern bridge arches, that when the center- 
ing is withdrawn, and the whole weight is trans- 
ferred to the innumerable blocks of stone, the 
whole rarely sinks more than an inch or two. 
One inch only occurred in the case of Waterloo 
Bridge." 

THE GAS-LIGHTS. 

Our young friends had observed, more than 
once, with surprise, that night was not dark in 
London. Roused as they frequently were by 
the rattling of carriages in the street, they al- 
ways perceived that there was light enough in 
the room to enable them to see the furniture 
very distinctly. They asked, one morning, if 
it was usually so. 

"• It is either nothing uncommon," said Mr. 
Finsbury, '' or else the citizens must be illumin- 
ating in honour of your visit ! We will take a 
drive out this evening, and see if we can learn 
the truth.'' 



56 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. 



" Well, if they are lighting up for us, we 
must do so for them if they come to West Hill 
House/' said Harold. 

" That you may safely engage to do,**' said 
Mr. F. " In the evening we will go out, as 
proposed." 

In the mean time, whilst that gentleman and 
his American friend were out on business, the 
two lads amused themselves as well as they could 
with books of prints, and juvenile publications, 
which were placed in their way by the kindness 
of their worthy entertainer. But still the time 
began to hang heavily on their hands, and they 
found that a lengthened holiday required con- 
stant excitement, and continually fresh novelties 
to make it agreeable. The seasonable occurrence 
of the dinner-hour, and the subsequent conversa- 
tion of their very intelligent friends, gave a new 
impulse to the wings of time. Mr. Finsbury in- 
troduced the subject of gas-lights, in order that 
Harold and Edward might not be quite in the 
dark as to knowledge respecting them, whilst 
admiring their radiance in the evening. 

" Steam," said he, '' was not the only im- 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. SJ 

portant agent which our ancestors suffered to 
escape hourly unnoticed from their culinary 
fires. It was, however, I should have thought, 
less likely to excite attention, as a commodity of 
possible utility, than the streaming effulgence 
of the half melting coal upon their bars; a 
phenomenon which seemed all the time to re- 
prove them for their stupidity, in neglecting to 
avail themselves of its flame as an evening 
luminary." 

"Perhaps the time will come,''' said Mr. Hazel- 
ford, " when the sparks of a tinder-box, and the 
smoke of a chimney, may supersede the use of 
gas and steam.*'*' 

" I doubt not,'' said Mr. F. " that another 
hundred years will bring fresh powers and 
agencies to light, and which, if named now by a 
schemer, would meet with nothing but ridicule. 
With respect to the flame of coal, no one could 
be ignorant of its brilliancy and utility as a 
light ; but men could not carry stoves and chim- 
nies about in their hands, nor place them by the 
way-side at every few yards' distance. Unless, 
therefore, the fuel and the flame could be sepa- 

b5 



58 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. 



ratedy (and who was to imagine such a thing 
possible?) the light of coals must be confined to 
the fire-places in which they were consumed. 
But chemistry was much studied twenty or thirty 
years ago, and to far more purpose than before. 
It was ascertained that certain substances, whilst 
burning, gave out large quantities of air, pos- 
sessing peculiar properties ; that certain kinds of 
air or gas thus obtained, were inflammable in a 
high degree, and that this gas might be pro- 
duced in one place, and forced through tubes to 
great lengths, where it would burn as well as 
ever. I know not who was the first person who 
subjected common coal to the process by which 
the hydrogen gas is produced, for the purposes 
of illumination at present. The experiment, I 
know, was performed by some youths of my ac- 
quaintance in this way. An old gun-barrel had 
its touch-hole closed up, and about six or eight 
inches of coal-dust were introduced. A tube 
about a yard long, shaped like an S, was then 
screwed tightly to the mouth of the barrel, and 
the closed end v^^as thrust into a brisk fire. A 
tub of water was then brought, and the lower 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. 



59 



end of the S tube was placed in it, so that the 
orifice was just under water. Now, to obtain 
this fragrant commodity in bottles, it was only- 
needful first to fill the said bottles with water, 
and when the coal in the barrel began to send 
forth its gas in bubbles, to invert the bottle, so 
as that the bubbles rose up into it, thereby dis- 
placing the water in the bottle. As fast as the gas 
rose in, the water flowed out ; so that when the 
glass vessel was destitute of water, it was filled with 
gas, and a pretty smeUiiig-hottle it then was." 

"Oh! sir," said Harold, "can we do it at 
homer 

"It is very likely you may, if grandpapa will 
find coals, and the cook patience, during your 
operation; but I would advise you not to com- 
mence without due consideration. Now, instead 
of a gun-barrel and a crooked S tube, and a tub 
of water, and a flame at the nozzle of a quart 
bottle, we have in the metropolis fifty immense 
gas-engines at work; hundreds of miles of pipe 
are laid along the streets, brought into the 
houses, circulate our public buildings, and give 
a midnight radiance exceeding that of many a 



60 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. 



winter'^s day in the city, and which forms a grand 
line of light in the horizon, seen at more than 
twenty miles' distance ! Thirty-three thousand 
chaldrons of coals are consumed by them in a 
year, and seventy thousand public and private 
lights are supplied!'^ 

" So you have fire and water running side by 
side very peaceably along your streets below !*^' 
said Mr. Hazelford. '^I think your underground 
wonders are as great as any." 

^' Indeed,**^ said Mr. Finsbury, " what with 
sewers, drains, water-pipes, and gas-pipes, a street 
has almost as many veins and arteries as one's 
arm. The worst of it is, that alterations and 
repairs break up our pavement too often. We 
will now take our proposed evening excursion, if 
agreeable.'*'' 

All readily acquiesced. They first proceeded 
as pedestrians through a few streets, and at 
length entered a shop, wherein the gas-burners 
were arranged with uncommon elegance and 
lustre in a sort of fanJight form. The boys 
were adequately astonished, and seemed rivetted 
to the spot. 



THE GAS-LIGHTS. 61 

" Oh ! I wish grandpapa could see this,^" ex- 
claimed one of them; " what would he say?" 

" He would say, perhaps, that one may live 
and learn, and that wonders never cease. But 
when persons have had seventy years of life, 
they do not lift their brows quite so high at 
novelties as those do who have not seen four- 
teen." 

" How the flame spins ovit at those little 
holes!"" said Harold. 

" You are making a rush-Yi^i of it,*" said 
Mr. F. : " it is the gas that spins out. It is 
not flame till it joins the external air, and is 
ignited by fire applied." 

The lads examined more closely, and perceived 
that the flame itself did not indeed quite touch 
the apertures. When they had sufficiently ex- 
amined this luminary, the party procured a 
coach, and viewed the exterior of several public 
buildings, splendidly illuminated by the same 
means. Although in these there is little more 
to describe, there was so much to amaze the eye 
and the mind of country youths, that Mr. Fins- 
bury found full occupation for them until the 



62 AEROSTATION. 

hour had long passed which he had thought of 
for returning. At length, however, they were 
withdrawn from those dazzling splendours, and 
reached their friend's house. After suitable re- 
freshment they retired and slept, with gas-lights 
and lustres still dancing in their brains. 



As gas was the thing uppermost next morn- 
ing, Mr. Finsbury and his friends conversed a 
little on another surprising use to which the 
same curious fluid was appropriated — that of 
aerostation^ or balloon sailing. 

" Well now, you see," said Mr. Finsbury, 
" we are not content to send the gas under- 
ground for our accommodation ; we pack it in a 
silk bag, and dispatch it to the clouds some- 
times, and even accompany it there ! " 

" That I do not at all understand, '"* said 
Edward. " I mean, I cannot see how it is that 
a balloon rises."" 

" We will try and explain it," said Mr. Fins- 
bury. " If you blow a bladder full of air, and 



AEROSTATION. 



63 



throw it on the water, what will it do — sink ^r 
float?" 

" Float, certainly," said Harold. 

" And the reason is plain," continued Mr. 
F.; "for it is not very wonderful, is it, that 
when things are left to themselves to find their 
own places, the heaviest should get downwards, 
and the lightest upwards? The water will not 
suffer itself to be displaced by a thing lighter 
than itself It maintains its own situation by 
its own weight, and supports the bladder on its 
surface. Now, on the very same principle, a 
balloon rises in the common air, which is much 
heavier than the artificial air, or hydrogen gas, 
contained in the balloon. It therefore rises until 
it finds itself in those upper regions, where the 
air is nearly as light as the gas itself. There it 
floats about, and would never descend, if the 
bladder, or bag, or balloon, would endure the 
weather, and remain entire.'' 

" Cannot we make a balloon, sir?" enquired 
Edward. 

" Don't think of such a thing, my dear boys, 
because the task is utterly impossible for you to 



64 LITHOGRAPHIC DRAWING 

accomplish in the way we have been talking of. 
I refer to balloons by which persons may as- 
cend. Nor is this inability much to be re- 
gretted. One gas-burner has more sensible 
utility in it than all the sky-flying balloons that 
have ever been constructed. So much for the 
powers of gas." 

It being a rainy morning recourse was again 
had to amusement within doors, and Mr. Fins- 
bury thought it a good opportunity to place 
before his friends specimens and descriptions of 
the comparatively new art, which forms an im- 
portant feature amongst the useful novelties of 
the age; — I mean the methods of 

LITHOGRAPHIC DRAWING & PRINTING. 

" Here/' said Mr. Finsbury, '' are some very 
good specimens of penmanship, mapping, archi- 
tectural designing, free landscapes, portraits, 
caricatures, music, and various other examples 
of art, all done by a process of which the world 
knew nothing a few years ago." 

I believe that, whilst Mr. Finsbury and his 



AND PRINTING. 65 

American friend talked over the nature and ad- 
vantages of Lithographic Printing, our young 
friends were chiefly occupied with the amusing 
quality of some of the subjects represented. 
Amongst these was a print called " A Midnight 
Revel," which tickled their fancy more than any 
thing. It gave a view of an old kitchen, de- 
serted, as usual at night, by its human inhabit- 
ants; but the bustle nevertheless was more than 
a little. The tongs, marching from the fire- 
place, were dancing a minuet with the bellows, 
which puffed themselves out for the occasion. 
The form of a musician was cleverly made up 
of a variety of culinary implements, holding a 
gridiron for a fiddle ; whilst another performer, 
of similar materials, was thundering away at a 
frying-pan for a tambourine. A coffee-pot was 
capering away on the dresser, mounted on sugar- 
tongs as legs; whilst another vessel, whose limbs 
were composed of knives, forks, and skewers, 
footed it away on the tight rope above. The 
whole was innocently comical, and pleased the 
lads so much, that Mr. Finsbury promised to 
procure an impression for them. 



66 LITHOGRAPHIC DKAWING 

" Now,'' said he, " we may as well know 
how that clever print — for such it is — can be 
produced, and for the small charge of one shil- 
ling;' 

" Perhaps," said Mr. Hazelford, " a little 
previous information respecting other modes of 
printing, might be acceptable and useful." 

" Well then, I will endeavour to supply a 
few particulars," said Mr. F; '^ and I will be 
brief, although my former pursuits would enable 
me to be particular. Prints had, until litho- 
graphy was invented, been of two sorts only — 
being supplied either by copper-plates or wood- 
cuts. A copper-plate engraving is wrought a pro- 
per depth into the substance of the metal. Thick, 
oily ink is then rubbed carefully in ; that on the 
suj'face is wiped as carefully off, and damped 
paper being laid on it, is so rolled through a very 
tight press, that the paper is forced partly into 
the strokes containing the ink, which then ad- 
heres to the paper, so that line for line, and dot 
for dotj may be discerned ; and there is your 
print, or impression. This, after all, is the only 
mode proper for a highly-finished engraving. 



AND PRINTING. 6J 

" Wood-engraving is exactly the reversed 
process. Deep places are dug by the graver in 
the surface of the block, which hollows are to 
be out of the way of the ink, which is not 
worked in, but dabbed on, and blackens all the 
remaining surface. The paper is then pressed 
on by another sort of a machine, and licks off 
the ink, and exhibits it just in those forms and 
places which were proper to accomplish the ar- 
tist's design. 

"But engraving on wood as well as copper is a 
slow and difficult art, and requires much care and 
skill to give a pleasing result. Indeed, a life is 
often too short to require real eminence herein. 
The print, thus produced, must of course be expen- 
sive, as the plate is not to be accomplished with- 
out time and labour; yet there are many occa- 
sions which require a cheap and speedy operation. 

" It occurred, I believe, first to a German, 
about thirty years ago, that the result of a 
wood-engraving might be obtained without any 
engraving at all, by drawing merely on a dif- 
ferent substance with a suitable material. The 
object being to make the ink adhere in some 



68 LITHOGRAPHIC DRAWING 

places, and not in others, this ingenious artist, 
Alois Senefelder by name, procured a kind of 
absorbent stone, on which, with a prepared paint, 
or ink, he drew, or wrote what he pleased. Ac- 
cording to his directions, water is then applied to 
the stone, which soaks in, and moistens every 
where but the places where the ink has been. 
Oily ink is then liberally bestowed on the whole 
surface, which ink is unable to adhere to the wet 
parts. It soils them not at all; but it takes 
readily to those where the former drawing ink 
was applied, and which have not become wet. 
Paper is then placed on the stone in this con- 
dition, and pressure being applied, you have the 
lithographic impression as often as the priJiting 
process is repeated.'" 

" There can be no doubt,'" said Mr. Hazel- 
ford, " that lithography is a great invention. 
If men could print always as fast as they can 
write or draw, knowledge and art would cause 
civilisation to proceed ten times as fast as it now 
does. Printing has polished one half of our 
rough globe, and speedy printing may brighten 
the other half before long.'" 



AND PRINTING. 69 

" As for speedy printing," observed Mr. 
Finsbury, " the introduction of machinery to 
letter-press seems to accomplish the matter some- 
what quicker even than thought. I found, in 
' The Arcana of Science and Art/ published 
last year, a statement which might exceed be- 
lief, if it were not known that the thing is ex- 
ceeded, in point of fact, by the Times news- 
paper. Here is the paragraph : — ' The Atlas 
newspaper, published on the 14th of March, 
1829, had twenty thousand copies struck off 
in the space of a few hours, each copy con- 
taining forty feet of printed surface; therefore 
eight hvmdred thousand square feet were pro- 
duced, capable of covering twenty acres ! This 
number of copies consisted of three hundred 
and twenty thousand leaves, measuring six- 
teen inches in length ; or of six hundred and 
forty thousand pages; or of one million, nine 
hundred and twenty thousand columns; or of 
two hundred and forty-one million, nine hun- 
dred and twenty thousand lines; or two thou- 
sand four hundred and nineteen milHon, two 
hundred thousand words. Supposing, there- 



70 LITHOGRAPHIC DRAWING AND PRINTING. 

fore, that an ordinary octavo volume of five 
hundred pages, contains a hundred and se- 
venty thousand words, the press of the Atlas 
printed, in those few hours, matter sufficient 
for fourteeen thousand, two hundred and thirty 
thousand octavo volumes! If the sixteen leaves 
of each copy be cut out, and placed end to 
end, they would reach from London to Salis- 
bury; and if each leaf be divided into its re- 
spective three columns, and similarly arranged, 
the printed slip then formed would be of suffi- 
cient length to go round Middlesex, and the 
seven surrounding counties. The whole of the 
machinery by which these wonderful effects are 
performed, consists of two large, and two lesser 
cylinders, put in motion by a steam-engine of 
four-horse power, managed by three boys; 
whose interference on the occasion was strictly 
limited to the presenting the end of the enor- 
mous blank sheet to the first cylinder, and the 
receiving it in a few seconds, printed on both 
sides, as it was discharged from the last cy- 
linder!' ^^ 



71 



THE DIORAMA AND COLOSSEUM. 

A REMARKABLY fine dav afforded, at length, a 
favourable opportunity for visiting these truly 
surprising and interesting spectacles. Our party 
set off in expectation of great things, and I do 
not find that their hopes were at all disappointed. 

The question regarding a conveyance was ad- 
justed as soon as Mr. Finsbury issued from his 
door. A finger held up on his part was an- 
swered by a horizontal elevation of a coachman's 
whip, who immediately pulled across the way, 
as the phrase is, with that capacious conve- 
nience called an omnibus. 

None of our party but Mr. Finsbury had en- 
tered such a machine before, and they were not 
a little amused with the novelty. Sixteen pas- 
sengers on opposite seats formed something 
like a cabinet council, in appearance, but no 
business transpired. Locomotion was the only 
object common to the assembly, and this was 



72 THE DIORAMA. 

attained without effort on their part. Going 
down Pentonville-hill, a hollow place in the road 
caused a sudden jerk, which displaced poor Ha- 
rold, and sent him on his knees before an in- 
dividual opposite, which, as it happened to be 
Mr. Finsbury, was attended with no other con- 
sequences than a general smile. He remarked 
that he could stand quite steadily in the sort of 
waggon used in the country. 

" So you call this a ivaggoyi^ do you .^'^ said 
Mr. Finsbury. '' You must not let Mr. Sliil- 
liheer hear you, for he considers it a very smart 
and commodious coach !" 

" I think it seems like a piece of the Thames 
Tunnel," said Edward. 

Presently afterwards the vehicle stopped, and 
the door-keeper at the end announced, " The 
Diorama Gate.'*^ Alighting immediately, a few 
steps to the right brought our friends to the 
building. 

That master-key, mioney, having been suit- 
ably apphed, every portal gave way, and they 
ascended to a place which might almost be call- 
ed a dark-lantern. It however contained seats. 



THE DIORAMA. ^3 

on which the party placed themselves, and little 
more notice was taken of this curious vestibule ; 
for the scene which presented itself on the 
open side, speedily fixed every eye. The scene 
was Mount St. Gothard, an assemblage of spiry, 
precipitous, riven rocks in Switzerland. The 
illusion was indeed complete. A shadowy chasm, 
amidst the vast Alps, showed a winding road, at 
an awful distance from the summit and the 
base, which had a low parapet only as security 
from the gulf on the open side. A bridge of a 
single arch was thrown across the fissure, and 
terminated the view of the carriage-road. Dis- 
tant mountains, summits covered with perpetual 
snow, and the blue tops of others, showed them- 
selves above ; whilst a roaring torrent, the rush- 
ing sound of which was exceedingly well ma- 
naged, pursued its course beneath. The lads 
looked even pale at the sight, and had not a 
word to say but in a subdued whisper. 

'' I thought it was to be only a picture,*" 
said Edward; " but they must be real rocks 
and mountains, made on purpose !" 

" // is only a picture^'''' replied Mr. Fins* 

E 



74 THE DIORAMA. 

bury. '' To convince yourself of this^ you have 
only to change your position in the room, and 
you will see the objects are seen exactly in the 
same way, go where you will. For instance, 
there is a projection represented of a piece of 
rock in front. If a real projection, by mov- 
ing across the apartment, you would see a 
little this way or 'that of the object behind it ; 
but you find it is in vain that you rise from your 
seat, or stoop, or go from side to side; nothing 
diiFerent can be seen. It must, therefore, be a 
plain surface." 

At this moment a bell rang, the doors of the 
gallery were adjusted, and the occurrence of the 
swing-bridge seemed to be experienced again. 
No one, however, perceived the motion until 
another and brighter view burst upon the eye 
from the left. This gradually expanded, whilst 
Mount St. Gothard narrowed at the same rate, 
and at length disappeared. The youths now 
found their tongues. 

" Oh, this must be a real town! Now, sir, 
there is the very shadow of one of the houses on 
the street. Dear me, what strange buildings ! 



THE DIORAMA. ^5 

lumps of stone laid on the roof, and the tiles of 
that other house look like fish's scales. Now 
say, sir — is this a picture P'** 

" It certainly is, my dear boy, and an ad- 
mirable one too.'' 

Mr. Hazelford partook of the natural ten- 
dency to incredulity, and actually shifted his 
place several times to convince himself of the 
truth. 

" It is astonishing!" said he, with great 
emphasis. " It is hard to say that that scene is 
nothing but paper and colours; yet the proof is 
so easy and incontestible, that the mind is fully 
compelled to call the eye a deceiver — reluctantly, 
yet positively, we are obliged to say, that posts, 
boards, tiles, stones, utensils, a road-way — every 
pebble of which has its own unimportant sha- 
dow — the bridge, the stream, the mountain — are 
all mocking ghosts and untruths ! It would 
seem as if, by walking to the right, I certainly 
should see more of that building beyond; but 
no — somehow they all stick together at the cor- 
ners." 

" But surely, now," said Harold; ^^ just that 

E 2 



/O THE DIORAMA. 

birch-broom, leaning against the house, is real. 
I suppose it was less trouble to put one there 
than to paint one." 

'' A birch -broom tacked on to a picture, 
Harold ! No,"" said Mr. Finsbury ; " that 
would, indeed, oply have appeared like a thing 
hanging in the air — it would have formed no 
part of the scene. All is the work of an artist^ 
who has taken an unusual method to enlighten 
his performance." 

Harold now consulted the paper given him 
at the door, and found that the scene in question 
was the village of Unterseen in Switzerland; 
showing its principal street and houses, with 
mountains just beyond. 

The foreign structure of the houses was a 
peculiar feature to English and youthful eyes. 
The roofs projected far beyond the walls, and 
sheltered heavy wooden galleries, by which the 
apartments above were entered. Some of the 
houses were covered with fir-boards, fixed on by 
cross planks, and these kept down by large 
stones, at irregular distances. 

" Why did they not show some of the peo- 



THE DIORAMA. 77 

pie?" asked Harold. " There is nobody at all 
to be seen." 

" The artist was wise there,'' answered Mr. 
Hazelford, " for these must have been motion- 
less^ which would have too soon undeceived the 
eye. For gate-posts and buildings to stand still, 
is not so remarkable as for persons to remain so 
for hours together." 

The bell now rang again, and by an unfelt 
agency, the building in which the spectators sat 
again slowly revolved. Unterseen was shut out, 
and Mount St. Gothard reappeared. 

" I generally wait," said Mr. Finsbury, '' till 
the scene has changed a time or two, for the con- 
trast itself is striking — particularly here, from 
the sunshiny, cheerful homeliness of the village- 
street, to the blue grandeur of the towering Alps. 
We are allowed a quarter of an hour at a time 
for each view."" 

After an hour spent in the alternate contem- 
plation of those amazing exhibitions, our party 
left the Diorama, and directed their steps to the 
Colosseum, not far distant. 

" A use may be derived from the sight of the 



78 THE COLOSSEUM. 

Diorama,"*' observed Mr. Finsbury, " which per- 
haps was never meditated by its contrivers. It 
affords an important lesson to all those who 
would persuade themselves and others, that what 
they see cannot be disproved by what other men 
know and declare; in fact, that sensible objects 
must be what the senses take them for, and that 
nothing can be true that contradicts them. The 
period will come, when death will so change our 
position as spectators, that the things of time 
will be proved deceivers^and not those substantial 
realities which the world held them to be. Reli- 
gion now does the friendly office of undeceiving 
us beforehand, if we choose to give her a hear- 
ing."' 

The gate-way of the Colosseum was now at 
hand; but admission was not to be gained here 
on such easy terms as at the Diorama, Jive 
shillings a-piece being the sum demanded. 

" We can scarcely expect to find this ex- 
hibition five times as good as the last," said Mr. 
Finsbury. " Certainly, in point of interest^ a 
view from the top of St. Paul's is not equal to 
Alpine scenery.*" 



THE COLOSSEUM. 79 

" The expense of this building must have 
been enormous,"** said Mr. H. 

" True/' replied his friend; " and that of 
the revolving saloon we have left must have been 
great also. I think the good folks . here rate 
their commodity too high." 

They were first introduced to the model-room. 
But our friends were not detained there long. 
The figures, as works of art, were generally of 
an inferior kind, and were in other respects unfit 
for exhibition. A very civil gentleman now ac- 
costed our friends, and wished to know if they 
would ascend to the galleries. None but Mr. 
Finsbury thought of any other method of rising 
than that which steps and feet afforded, until 
they were ushered into a sort of lantern, where 
two or three others were sitting, when they were 
told, that by keeping their seats they would rise 
sixty feet, and save themselves eighty steps. 

"• Oh! now we are going somewhere," said 
Harold. ^^ Edward! Edward! this is like being 
in the boat !'' 

Less than three minutes were sufficient to 
raise the almost unconscious aeronauts to the 



80 THE COLOSSEUM. 

level of the first gallery, on which they entered 
safe and sound. • . 

It is but justice to the clever and indefati- 
gable artists employed on the vast work before 
them, to say that the effect is most astounding 
and impressive. The mind seems embarrassed at 
once by the representation of the eye, and by its 
own knowledge of the delusion. ^' Well now, my 
boys, what do you think of this.^'' asked Mr. 
Finsbury. 

'^ I don t know where I am!" said Harold. 

" I am almost giddy !'"* said Edward. 

" There is something unaccountably perplex- 
ing to the sense and reason in this sight,''*' said 
Mr. Hazelford. " If any one were suddenly 
placed here without his previous knowledge, he 
would set this down as a dream; and there is 
just that mixture of probability and queerness 
which constitutes a vision of the night. It is 
high praise to the artist to say, that it requires a 
constant effort to retain the belief that it is a 
picture. See ! here are telescopes fixed at every 
few yards." 

" This part of the Colosseum is an immense 



THE COLOSSEUM. 



81 



dome, thirty feet more in diameter than the 
cupola of St. Paul's;' said Mr. Finsbury. " I 
understand that the picture covers forty thousand 
square feet of canvass; that is, nearly an acre. 
It takes in an horizon of a hundred and thirty 
miles circumference." 

" In order to judge of this performance/' ob- 
served Mr. Hazelford, " we ought to consider 
the difficulties of the undertaking. I think there 
is not above one man in a hundred who possesses 
patience sufficient to make the sketches. Then, 
to give the effect of an expanded surface on a 
dome-shaped building, which contracts where the 
view should widen, was a task of great difficulty,- 
and must have required a high degree of genius 
and science." 

'' We are to suppose ourselves on the sum- 
mit of St. PauFs early in the morning,'*' said Mr. 
Finsbury, " before the majority of the people 
are stirring. The thin columns of smoke from 
the innumerable chimnies are beginning to 
mingle into one, and the grey cloud is slowly 
moving before a slight breeze." 

^' Perhaps, Mr. Finsbury, for the information 

E 5 



82 THE COLOSSEUM. 

of US strangers, you will point out a few of the 
principal objects.'"' 

" Certainly," said his friend. " Looking to- 
wards the west, down here, we see the two tur- 
rets of the building on which we are supposed to 
be placed. Thence we pursue, by the eye, the 
larger streets and river, until London is lost in 
the country. There, by the glass, we may 
plainly discern Harrow, Richmond, and the 
royal towers of Windsor, together with I know 
not how many villas and villages which surround 
this modern Babylon. Now let us walk round 
to the other side. This is the eastern view. 
Following the windings of the river, we discover 
the London, and India, and St. Katharine's 
Docks; Greenwich and its hospital; Woolwich, 
and other water-side places, almost to the Nore.'" 

Mr. Finsbury then pointed out the chief build- 
ings of the metropolis itself; and remarked, that 
not only were these faithfully delineated, but 
even private houses, with whose form he was 
acquainted, were as accurately represented. Of 
course, however, this could only be the case with 
such as were situated near the point of view. 



THE COLOSSEUM. 83 

'' And now," said Mr. F. " having traversed 
this gallery several times, suppose we ascend to 
that above. ''' 

Accordingly, the party went up a flight of 
wooden stairs, and attained a much higher ele- 
vation, when they stepped upon a platform, in- 
tended to give another view and an additional 
interest to the spectacle. But Mr. Hazelford 
stepped back, and said: '^ There is something 
stupifyingly odd in this view. What is it 
that gives suddenly so strange an effect to the 
scene ?'''' 

'' I think I can explain it presently," said Mr. 
Finsbury. " Young gentlemen, what do you 
think.?" 

'' I think the world looks very small now," 
said Harold. 

'^ And we look down upon the sky," said Ed- 
ward." 

" That is the very thing," said Mr. Finsbury. 
^'I am astonished that the scientific and artistical 
men who contrived and produced this magnifi- 
cent spectacle, should have forgotten that to in- 
troduce the spectator to a point where he looks 



84 THE COLOSSEUM. 

down upon the horizon, is to present him with the 
greatest possible absurdity in perspective. As 
we rise and view the real earth, the horizon 
always rises with us, and would do so, were we 
a thousand miles high. This view crazes the 
mind by its giddy, falsifying effect. London here 
looks like a portion of a little planet, the circum- 
ference of which is somehow hidden by the sky ! 
Let us ascend still higher, and view a scene 
where the horizon is managed on a natural plan." 

Again mounting by a curving wooden staircase, 
a scene incomparably bright and beautiful pre- 
sented itself — it was the real face of nature, 
enriched with the proud works of man, that they 
now beheld from the ewternal gallery of the 
Colosseum. 

" We now see, by lively and immediate con- 
trast," observed Mr. Hazelford, " the difference 
between the copy and the pattern. The shining- 
ness of an open sky, and real objects enlightened 
by the sun, makes the artificial scene appear like 
dim twilight, at best.'*" 

" Another thing,"** said Mr. Finsbury, *-' is 
motion. Trees are bending and fluttering, clouds 



THE COLOSSEUM. 85 

are passing, men and animals are plying busy 
feet below in all directions, and the refreshing 
effect of the gusty breeze rushing by us — all 
these things are enough to make nature really 
inimitable by man." 

They proceeded down again to the gallery, 
where the rising lantern had landed them, and 
being seated, found themselves in a few moments 
on the ground floor. Our friends then passed 
through a very pretty conservatory, in which 
were many rare exotics from equatorial climes. 

" The mechanism and structure of vegetation 
seem to be altogether different, when w^e examine 
tropical plants,'' said Mr. Finsbury. " The 
growth appears enormous, and the leaves, flowers, 
and fruit, are as unlike those of our own fields 
and gardens, as if they came from the moon."' 

Several long passages now conducted our 
party to a scene essentially different from what 
they had beheld before. A Swiss cottage, and 
alpine scenery, not represented^ but huilt^ form- 
ed the wondrous spectacle now. 

'' You do not ask whether this is a picture,'' 
said Mr. Finsbury to the lads. 



86 THE COLOSSEUM. 

" Oh! dear no/' was the reply: " these are 
real mountains and cataracts. How wild and 
grand it is V 

" They are real forms^'' said Mr. Finsbury, 
" and arranged with great taste, skill, labour, 
and expense. Here, you see, is real motion: 
the water actually rattles down those precipices 
as fast as it can. Here too are water-fowl of 
various kinds, pluming and washing themselves, 
and not at all aware that they are not in Swit- 
zerland. Here is something to remind us that 
we are not there; being genuine London pastry 
provided for our accommodation. Let us rest 
awhile here and partake." 

The incongruity of jellies, tarts, and plum- 
cake, with the mountain crags before them, did 
not appear so forcibly to the lads as to prevent 
them from doing full justice to the good things. 

" One thing 1 have thought of thoUgh, which 
is appropriate,"" said Mr. Finsbury: " a few ices 
will perhaps help our conceptions of the atmo- 
sphere on those blue peaks above us. Straw- 
berry and lemon ices were now handed round by 
the nymph of the cottage. Our young friends, 



THE KEGENt's park. 87 

if the truth must be spoken, had never partaken 
of any before, and they could not help exhibit- 
ing a few distortions of countenance as they 
swallowed those fiercely rigorous sweets. 

By the time our friends reached the city, Mr. 
Finsbury's dinner-hour had arrived, which was 
enlivened by interesting conversation on the sub- 
jects to which their attention had so forcibly 
been directed that morning. 

THE REGENT'S PARK AND ZOOLOGICAL 
GARDENS. 

Mr. Finsbury and his visitors were so much 
occupied with the Diorama and Colosseum, that 
they had not time on that morning to take par- 
ticular notice of the beautiful spot in which they 
are situated. They took the opportunity, there- 
fore, on the next fine day, to drive round the 
Regent's Park, and visited the Zoological Gar- 
dens at the north-east corner of it. 

" Here we have something like a suitable 
metropolitan pleasure-ground,**" said Mr. Fins- 
bury. " It is on a magnificent scale, and 



88 THE regent's park. 

seems likely to grow in splendour and beauty 
every year. But a few years ago, there was 
nothing here but a dreary expanse of compara- 
tively unproductive ground. Here are nearly 
four hundred acres, which have been enclosed 
and laid out with all the embellishments of a 
baronial park ; to which are added the magnifi- 
cence and elegance in building which are suita- 
ble to the capital. The terraces, villas, and 
other erections here, are too numerous for us to 
notice particularly."'' 

" There is indeed much of splendour and 
beauty about this spot,''*' said Mr. H. ; " but 
there is too much an air of the town about it for 
those who have a genuine taste for the country, 
I should think." 

" That is true indeed," replied Mr. F. ; " and 
for my own part, I would sooner have a cottage 
on a heath, if I had the liberty of a choice. But 
considering how many are tied to London by 
circumstances, it is a great thing to have a 
space like this so near, wherein green leaves 
may at least be seen, and a somewhat purer air 
inhaled." 



I 




'% 



% 



.Jlllkfi^ 



THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 89 

" I am sure I wish grandpapa would come 
and live here,*''' said Edward. 

" I am sure / do not,'' said Harold. " This 
is a very fine, pretty place, but I should not like 
to leave our country for it." 

Various conversation ensued, until the party 
reached the Zoological Gardens, the inhabitants 
of which soon fixed the attention of all. The 
minds of our young friends now underwent an- 
other important enlargement, corresponding to a 
vast store of new ideas which presently obtained 
admission. All the kangaroos, ring-tailed mon- 
keys, and nyl-ghaus, of their books, had failed 
to make any definite impression; but now, one 
glance at the living realities, aided by the testi- 
mony of the ear to the actual notes of their 
varied musical performances, booked the whole 
for the memory. The strange cries of foreign 
animals tend very much to enhance the surprise 
of new beholders. But the animals here were 
not tormented into their savage tones of expostu- 
lation, like the unhappy beasts within the booths 
of a country fair. They were rendered as com- 
fortable, in every respect, as such outlandish 



90 THE ZOOLOGICAL GAEDENS. 

visitors could be, and were accommodated with 
their peculiar food, lodging, and pastime, as 
nearly as possible. 

" What are the chief objects of this vast and 
interesting establishment?" asked Mr. Hazel- 
ford; " not, surely, the profit of a few proprie- 
tors, or the indulgence of public curiosity." 

" The objects are purely scientific," said Mr. 
Finsbury. " A society was formed, I believe, 
about five or six years ago, for the purpose of 
extending the means of zoological knowledge, 
and they are therefore called the ' Zoological 
Society.' They made an arrangement with the 
Commissioners of Woods and Forests, to whom 
the government of the Park belongs, for a por- 
tion here of considerable extent, for which, I 
think, they pay four hundred a year. They have 
also a farm at Kingston, appropriated expressly 
to the nursery of rare species of birds, quadru- 
peds, and fishes. They have a committee of 
science and correspondence, for discussing ques- 
tions and experiments in animal philosophy. 
They have established communication with the 
most noted establishments of the kind in Europe, 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 91 

and their constant endeavour is to enlarge our 
store of facts in the history of animated nature. 
Their great plan is to do this by obtaining living 
specimens, if possible. The king's Windsor 
collection was not long since placed here. Be- 
sides this, meetings are held, and lectures given 
by their most scientific men, and tracts and re- 
ports are continually published under their super- 
intendence." 

" Well," said Mr. Hazelford, " I must say 
that English folks have incomparably more 
of the spirit of enterprise in science and the 
liberal arts than we. If we could obtain a col- 
lection of all the uncouth wonders in the animal 
creation, I am certain we could not be induced 
to keep them at this expense."''' 

'' What will you say to the next exhibition.?" 
said Mr. Finsbury; '' I mean, our 

BRITISH MUSEUM. 

'^ This building,''' said Mr. H. as he approached 
it, " surely has a foreign aspect: it is unlike 
your English houses."'*' 



92 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

" You are right^' said Mr. F. " This was 
Montagu House; built by the first duke of that 
name, who employed a French architect, one 
Peter Puget. Few private mansions, however, 
would accommodate national convenience in a 
museum so well as this : it was at once spacious 
and commodious, but has been made far more so 
by recent erections and improvements. It was 
established by parliament about eighty years 
ago, Sir Hans Sloane having left his vast collec- 
tion to the nation on payment to his executors of 
twenty thousand pounds, it having cost him 
fifty thousand pounds. Several other collections 
have been added; this house was purchased, 
and the establishment then completed for about 
eighty-five thousand pounds. It is, however, 
increased, and is still increasing greatly; and, as 
new donations and bequests are continually'' 
coming in, we cannot say when this vast store- 
house will arrive at its greatest extent.'' 

" Men,'** said Mr. H. " are so busy now in 
searching out rarities, and have so much inclina- 
tion and ability for the pursuit, that museums 
can never be said to be complete until the earth 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 93 

has been sifted to its centre: and, in fact, the 
more we examine the better." 

" The ocean, too, must be filtered through a 
canvass bag," added Mr. Finsbury, " or we 
shall not be satisfied. However, it is not our 
wish to ridicule investigations which have dis- 
covered the foundations of knowledge. Harold 
and Edward, remember now, that an observant 
eye and a retentive mind will enable you this 
morning to enlarge the museum in your heady 
in a way that will enrich you vastly at ho ex- 
pense whatever. These things are placed here, 
not merely that persons may say they have seen 
them^ but that they may copy them into their 
own books of knowledge, and have them there 
ready for use. Here we have, in the first place^ 
specimens of the handy-work of nature, delved 
from the earth, stolen from the secret chambers 
of the deep. Here are wonders from the den, 
the forest, and the mountain crag. And then 
the work of the long-perished finger of man, of 
which here are countless examples, will lead back 
our minds, by an interesting path, to the acts and 
efforts of past ages, when the human mind wrought 



94 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

by the daiwn, not the daylight^ of science. Here 
also, in a vast assemblage of MSS. and books, we 
see the most precious and costly fruits of human 
intellect, the acquired possessions of a thousand 
powerful and eager minds, whose hard-earned 
gains are now thrown into one stock for our 
use, if we care to avail ourselves of their la- 
bours.'' 

Harold remarked, that they did not enter on 
the ground-floor, but went up stairs directly. 

" The rooms below,'' said Mr. Finsbury, 
" contain the library, to vfhich persons are not 
admitted until they have made proper applica- 
tion for that purpose to the trustees. I do not 
suppose that we shall need an introduction there 
this morning: indeed, we shall only have time to 
glance at a few rooms open to the public gene- 
rally." 

Sticks and umbrellas were now demanded of 
our friends. Harold gave his up with some re- 
luctance and alarm, it having been bestowed on 
him with many injunctions regarding its safety 
by his grandfather, before he left home. 

" I suppose," said he, '' they take umbrellas 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 95 

instead of money here. I think grandpapa gave 
fifteen shilKngs for mine.'' 

" Make yourself easy, my boy,'' said Mr. 
Finsbury: "your umbrella is not such a curi- 
osity as to be wanted at the British Museum for 
exhibition. Persons are not allowed to take 
things into the rooms with which they might, in 
pointing at the objects, touch and injure them. 
Every one has his own at leaving." 

On ascending to, and entering the first room, 
our young friends, as is usual, found themselves 
rather more bewildered than gratified for some 
time. The countless variety and multiplicity of 
the objects, few indeed of which w^ere understood 
by them, produced rather a disappointing effect. 
Their two friends observed this, and soon direct- 
ed their attention in a way to excite their interest. 

*' Two things are needful," said Mr. Hazel- 
ford, " to render a survey of these objects 
pleasingly useful — time mid knowledge,'''' 

" We must therefore make the best use of 
what we have this morning,"" said Mr. Finsbury; 
" and if we happen to be aware of a few things 
to which these young gentlemen have not yet 



96 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

attended, why, we must assist them a little; and 
I dare say, if they^ in turn, should be before- 
hand with us in any piece of information, they 
will give us the benefit of it I"*" 

The boys smiled, and Mr. Finsbury and his 
friend good-naturedly took them by the hand, 
and pointed out several objects which they had 
previously marked on the list. 

" Here,"' said Mr. H. " are some of my own 
countrymen's performances, I declare! North 
American implements of war, and specimens of 
clothing and ornaments. Do you see, young 
gentlemen, what clever, civilized folks, we are 
over the water .^" 

"I am sure those things belonged to savages," 
said Edward, " because I have seen things ex- 
actly like them in prints of the manners and cus- 
toms of nations.'^ 

" You are right," said Mr. H. : " those curi- 
ous weapons, garments, and idols, come from 
tribes of Indians, who reside far west of the 
United States. What a strange mixture of 
rudeness and neatness, of taste and barbarity, 
these things exhibit!'' 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 97 

" What ugly image is this?'' enquired Harold. 

" It is an Indian god,'' said Mr. Hazelford. 
" The human mind, aware of the existence of 
a Deity, and that there is something to be 
dreaded from him, generally conceives of a ma- 
lignant being, not of a good one, as an object 
of fear and worship." 

" The fact seems to be," observed Mr. Fins- 
bury, " that almost all pagan worship is an 
homage paid to demons, whom ignorant men 
regard as the real agents of human destinies. 
We are taught better things."' 

The next objects of attention were specimens 
of lava, and fossil-shells, but these were too 
numerous to be noticed distinctly. The second 
room, containing a vast variety of many-legged 
insect tribes, might have detained a naturalist 
a month. Passing on through the saloon, 
where mineral specimens were beautifully ar- 
ranged, Mr. Finsbury made some remarks on 
the substances called meteorolites, or meteoric 
stones, of which several specimens were before 
them. " It seems to me," said he, ^' that the 
mysterious origin of these substances forms one 

F 



98 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

of the most interesting subjects of speculation in 
nature. Until about thirty years ago, philoso- 
phy smiled only at the vulgar notion that solid 
masses descended from the heavens in the form 
of thunder-stones, or bolts ; but we have learned, 
at length, to look facts in the face, without being 
so absurd as to deny their existence at the same 
time."' 

'^ There are, then, indisputable testimonies to 
their falling from the upper regions .^" said Mr» 
Hazelford. 

'' Unquestionably. Mr. Howard, in the year 
1802, submitted to the Royal Society a paper, 
vvhich contained an accurate examination of that 
testimony, which now is no longer doubted. The 
image of Diana, and the Palladium of Minerva, 
evidently were founded on these facts, and it is 
thought that the ancient worship of stones ori- 
ginated in the same way. The phrase in the 
Psalms, ' Hailstones and coals of Jire^ we can 
scarcely explain, but as having a reference to 
meteoric substances. But to be more particu- 
lar as to facts. In November, 1492, a dread- 
ful clap of thunder was heard at Ennisheim, in 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 99 

Alsace, when a huge stone fell on a wheat-field. 
It sunk three feet in the ground, and weighed 
two hundred and sixty pounds. Two others fell 
at Verona, in Italy, in 1672, one of which 
weighed three hundred, and the other two hun- 
dred pounds ! Mr. Townley, the botanist, pos- 
sessed a meteoric stone, which fell in Yorkshire 
on the 13th of December, 1795, and weighed 
fifty-six pounds. Whilst it was passing through 
the air, several persons perceived a body moving 
along the clouds. It travelled over some miles 
of country, and at length an explosion took place, 
which alarmed the people. The names of the 
persons witnessing its fall are given. I believe 
the last circumstance of the kind which has 
been published, occurred in Persia, in the year 
1814. A shower of stones then took place, 
many of which weighed from twenty to thirty- 
pounds V 

'' Where can they come from.^'** said Ha- 
rold. 

" Naturalists are still at a loss for an answer 
to that question,'^ replied Mr. Finsbury. " In 
the exigence of wonder caused by these facts,. 

F 2 



100 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

some have supposed that volcanoes in the moon 
have discharged them so far, as to come within 
the range of the earth's attraction; others ha^^e 
thought that they may proceed from terrestrial 
mountains. I confess that these conjectures are 
not to me satisfactory. But we must pass on. 
In this next room we have a grand collection of 
shells — contrivances of Nature, by which she 
provides a numerous class of animals with tene- 
ments and munitions of strength. See! young 
gentlemen, this is the paper-nautilus, as it is 
called, which it is supposed first taught man to 
navigate the waters. It is a species of sea-snail, 
common in the Mediterranean. It has eight 
limbs, furnished with membranes: six of these 
it erects when on the surface of the water, and 
forms thereby a sail ; the other two are kept 
under, and used as oars." 

Edward was so much interested with this and 
some other curiosities, that he enquired if any of 
them were to be bought. 

'' Not for a thousand pounds," said Mr. Fins- 
bury. " The object of the institution is to gra- 
tify and inform the public by the exhibition. 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 101 

The collection, therefore, is inviolable, as it 
should be."' 

Another apartment presented the visitors with 
an interesting collection of the natural antiqui- 
ties called organic remains, 

'' Here," said Mr. Finsbury, ^' we are intro- 
duced to the comparatively modern science of 
geology; a study which brings under examin- 
ation the substances of which the earth is com- 
posed, as far as we can penetrate into its re- 
cesses, and which reveals those wonderful trans- 
formations by which bodies which had once life 
and growth, have become solid earth or stone. 
The most curious fact, perhaps, belonging to 
this science is, that tribes of animals have been 
discovered in a petrified state, of which no living 
examples have been known to human records. 
Teeth and bones have been found, which must 
have belonged to animals vastly superior to the 
elephant in size." 

The party then surveyed the articles as well 
as they could in the time; noticing, especially, 
the imbedded human skeleton from Guadaloupe; 
the immense English lizard from Lyme Regis; 



102 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

stag's horns from Iceland; and a large collection 
of crabs, sea-eggs, sea-lilies, rushes, fruit from 
Sheppy, and other fossils. 

The preserved birds obtained, perhaps, rather 
more of the attention of our young friends. This 
was natural ; for less knowledge was required to 
perceive their peculiarities and beauties. The 
same was in measure true with regard to their 
observation of the other tribes of animals, stuffed 
and preserved in the same manner. 

'^ And now,'*'' said Mr. Finsbury? " we must 
view the ancient products of human heads and 
hands. The finest works of the first of nations 
are before us. The Greeks and Romans have 
not left us to gather their greatness only from 
their writings. These were their doings^ two or 
three thousand years ago; and we may examine, 
with our own eyes, the merits of those perform- 
ances, over which the eyes and the hands of their 
inimitable artists wandered with such successful 
diligence and taste. 

But for the reasons we have just referred to, 
and the multiplicity of objects, Harold and Ed- 
ward did not make many remarks till they entered 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 103 

the room containing the Egyptian antiquities, 
when the head of Memnon occasioned a burst 
of surprise. 

'' Oh! dear sir/' said Harold, " is that the 
image which fell down from Jupiter, that you 
spoke of this morning?'' 

" What a surprisingly great person this must 
have been, if a fossil T said Edward. " Pray, 
sir, what is it.^" 

" It is part of a colossal statue of Memnon," 
said Mr. F. " cut out, with surprising skill, from 
a block or rock of stone, now almost impenetrably 
hard. This was an object of worship for ages in 
Egypt; but was brought here by the efforts of 
the celebrated Belzoni and Mr. Salt, not long 
ago." 

On the other side, Mr. H. pointed out the 
vast sarcophagus, or coffin, covered with hiero- 
glyphics, and supposed to have contained the 
body of Alexander the Great. After examining 
these and the animal sculptures, objects of an- 
cient worship in Egypt, Mr. Finsbury and his 
friends visited, in their return, the building con- 
taining the marbles brought from Greece by Lord 



104 WEST END. 

Elgin; and, at a late hour, they reached his 
own house, where dinner had been some time 
waiting. 



WEST END, NATIONAL REPOSITORY, 

SKELETON OF THE WHALE, BAZAARS.^ 

COVENT-GARDEN, &c. 

Our enquiring travellers seldom passed a day 
without a drive or a walk, which added some- 
thing to their ideas of London, as it is at pre- 
sent. 

The west end of the town, and its surprising 
objects of attention, engaged them during one 
long morning. 

" I wish we had your grandfather with us this 
morning," said Mr. Finsbury; " for he knows 
well the state of these parts forty years ago. 1 
have no doubt that he might now lose himself 
within half a mile of Charing Cross." 

" What have you Londoners been doing 
lately, to change the features of your metropolis 
so much.?'' asked Mr. Hazelford. 

'^ Every thing that money and enterprise, and 



WEST END. 105 

a zeal for improvement, and professional ability, 
could accomplish/' said Mr. F. '' Almost a new 
city has arisen, within a few years, about the 
spot I have mentioned. Old palaces have sunk 
out of existence, new ones have arisen; mansions 
for the nobility, of the most splendid kind, form 
now spacious streets in the room of dilapidated 
houses. Existing buildings of merit have been 
laid open to public view by their removal; new 
roads have been planned and executed; and, in 
fact, a new aspect has been given: but of this, 
only those who have known the metropolis for 
years can well judge. We have long felt the 
taunts of foreigners respecting the comparative 
meanness of the buildings of our capital, and 
an effort has been made, to a considerable ex- 
tent, towards an improvement in these re- 
spects." 

" Undoubtedly,"" said Mr. H. as they passed 
down Regent Street and the Haymarket, " if 
west London was ever like the east, or the city, 
the change is vast. Here is magnificence, and 
the stateliness of national opulence." 

" There was a strange mixture of erections 

F 5 



106 



WEST END. 



here/' said Mr. F. " and of inconvenience and 
importance in their situation and structure ; 
but I think now we have little need to be ashamed * 
of this entrance to London.'^ 

After a pretty long walk amongst the chief 
streets and buildings, Mr. Hazelford owned that 
his expectations were exceeded. As for Harold 
and Edward, it was a continued wonder to them : 
so many novelties, and grand ones too, met their 
eyes every instant, that their old ideal impres- 
sions of London seemed to be revived. 

" This is quite as grand as I thought London 
really was before we came,*" said Harold. " What 
a little place grandfather's house and garden will 
appear to us when we return!" 

" Oh dear ! I almost forget it,'' said Ed- 
ward. 

" It is to you the most worth remembering,"" 
said Mr. Finsbury ; " and do not forget that 
the comfortable residence of an independent gen- 
tleman, like that in which you have been brought 
up, will bear comparison well, in the more im- 
portant respects, with the most splendid man- 
sion here; and many who here reside, would be 



THE NATIONAL REPOSITORY. 107 

thankful for such a retreat, secured by your aged 
relative's property.^' 

The National Repository at Charing Cross 
was now approached, and Mr. Finsbury explain- 
ed its nature and design in a few words pre- 
viously. 

" This establishment^"" said he, " is intended 
for the exhibition of specimens of new and im- 
proved productions of the artisans of the United 
Kingdom. It is vmder a board of management, 
consisting of the most eminent men in practical 
science we have. New inventions, or old ones 
improved, superior excellence of manufacture, or 
any efforts by which useful purposes are pro- 
moted, find encouragement here. The speci- 
mens, or models, are examined by any who choose 
to take that trouble, so that merit need not lie 
hidden now. Government has frequently adopt- 
ed suggestions or inventions exhibited here, and 
thereby has greatly rewarded the artist for his 
ingenuity and skill. Here we are ! One shilling 
only is the charge for each : I trust we shall not 
deem that small sum misspent." 

The gallery of the institution, which is two 



108 THE NATIONAL REPOSITORY. 

hundred and forty-eight feet long, presented a 
most interesting spectacle, from its vast assem- 
blage of curious articles. Neither they nor we 
could possibly notice more than a very few par- 
ticularly. The lads were somewhat struck and 
amused, in the first place, with a kind of dial, 
which, instead of the hours of the day, had the 
words dinner, tea, supper, boots, chambermaid, 
carriage, horse, hot water, eggs, wine, &c. in- 
scribed upon it. 

" This/' said Mr. Finsbury, " I see, is in- 
tended for a domestic telegraph : what shall we 
have next.'^ My lady and gentleman are to be 
saved the trouble even of naming their wants to 
their servants by this contrivance, a dial in their 
room answering to one in the kitchen by an in- 
dex communicating with both.'' 

" We have not refined our American methods 
so far at present,"" said Mr. H. " Here seems 
to be an invention of more importance — an ap- 
paratus for preventing accidents from the run- 
ning away of horses ; an extra rein is connected 
with a small box in the carriage, containing a 
roller actuated by the wheels ; so that if the 



THE NATIONAL REPOSITORY. 109 

coachman should lose his power, or his seat, 
they will be gradually wound up by an irresisti- 
ble force.'' 

" Not a bad invention," said Mr. Finsbury, 
'' if properly applied. What have we here, a tea- 
canister, or a coffee-biggen ? This machine is at 
once cook and kitchen, if we understand the in- 
ventor; an apparatus which is to boil water, make 
tea and coffee, boil eggs, cook a beef-steak or a 
slice of ham, and all in ten minutes! Then for 
dinner, it will prepare soup, steam vegetables, 
fry fish, chops, and cutlets, all at the same time, 
and with one farthing's worth of fuel ! It is con- 
trived so as to be used on the breakfast or dining- 
table, to be taken in a carriage or a boat, or even 
carried by pedestrians." 

" If it performs half that, it is a very ingeni- 
ous and useful article," said Mr. Finsbury. 
'* There is another process needful, and pre- 
vious, which, if successful, it will accomplish no 
doubt for its inventor — it will buy him victuals !" 

Passing on, our party noticed the beautiful 
specimens of silk and other weaving; the elegant 
and elaborate productions in glass; examples of 
very rich stained glass; and other productions of 



110 THE NATIONAL REPOSITORY. 

high skill and taste. The models in architecture 
and machinery were peculiarly interesting, espe- 
cially to the lads, as they could take in, at a 
near view, the various parts. 

" Oh! what a beautiful little church!'*' said 
Edward: " how cleverly it is put together!" 

" That is a design model," said Mr. Fins- 
bury, " arranged in the form of the holy sepul- 
chre at Jerusalem, and also like four ancient 
round churches in England." 

'' Look! look here, Edward,**' said Harold: 
" here is St. Paul's complete!'** 

" Now you see a little more of the real form 
of that magnificent structure than you could be 
aware of from a glance at the building. But re- 
collect, the artist here had only to copy and put 
his work together: he had no anxiety regarding 
the design or stability of his building. It is this 
which calls forth the great science of the architect. 
The model, with a glass roof, of the Catholic 
Chapel in Moorfields, and that of the Thames 
Tunnel, detained our friends next. After this, 
the machine models were examined. Mr. Fins- 
bury drew the attention of his young friends 
particularly to several beautiful little steam- 



tHE NATIONAL REPOSITORY. Ill 

engine models, by the help of which they clearly 
understood the principles before explained to 
them. As for the tools and countless im- 
plements of art, they could only be glanced at 
generally, and admired for the beauty of work- 
manship which they exhibited. Philosophical 
instruments were not passed without occasional 
remarks. A beautiful air-pump seemed to re- 
quire a few words more than some others. 

" See!'** said Mr. Finsbury, " what capital 
mechanism is requisite to displace a small por- 
tion of that invisible fluid around us. There is 
nothing that proves the weight and mechanical 
properties of the atmosphere so well as this. The 
glass bell is placed so as that the pump with- 
draws the air within it, forming what is called a 
vacuum, though, in reality, a little air will al- 
ways remain. When the air from beneath is 
removed, the pressure of that without fastens the 
bell down so that the utmost force short of break- 
ing it will scarcely raise it. Look, my lads, at 
this elegant machine," said Mr. Finsbury: "it 
is a clepsydra, or water-clock. The ancients 
made much use of- various forms of water-clocks, 



112 SKELETON OF THE WHALE. 

and had none, indeed, but these and sun-dials to 
mark their time. A syphon here is employed to 
remove the water, instead of an orifice beneath. 
The action must be more uniform, as it is not 
interfered with by the differing weight of the 
column of water. This is a machine which I 
think you could make.'' 

" Oh! can we, sir.^" said the lads; ^^ then I 
am sure we will try." 

" I will assist you with a print and descrip- 
tion I have at home,*" said Mr. Finsbury ; ''only 
on this condition, that, in future, you take great 
care not to waste the commodity it measures out 
to you — I mean, time. See! here is a patent 
machine for corking bottles, and one for filling 
them: an apparatus for emptying them we are 
already supplied with." 

After about an hour more spent in viewing a 
vast number of miscellaneous articles, our party 
left the Repository highly gratified, and with 
considerable additions to their stores of knowledge. 

The lads had noticed the long booth-like build- 
ing standing opposite, before they entered the 
Repository; but Mr. Finsbury and his friend 



SKELETON OF THE WHALE. 113 

thought that there would be an advantage in 
seeing that stupendous frame of mechanism, the 
skeleton of a whale, after the small results of 
human ingenuity had been examined. 

" And now/' said Mr. Hazelford, "' having 
noticed a few specimens of man's handy-work, 
let us see an engine designed and made by the 
great Author of nature himself, and make our 
observations on the vast disparity between 
them." 

" I scarcely know how to account for the 
fact," said Mr. Finsbury, " that, with regard to 
the doings of man, we almost always admire two 
things — the work and the workman; but, when 
the exhibitions of nature are before us, we seem 
to require an extra effort of reason and religion 
to remind us of the Grand Artificer. Let us 
keep in view now, if we can, that the apparatus 
within is an express witness to the existence, 
power, and wisdom, of an unseen God." 

With this impression, the party entered the 
Pavilion, as it is called, in which the stately re- 
mains of the monarch of the deep were laid out, 
or, rather, rebuilt for human gaze. 



114 SKELETON OF THE WHALE. 

" Here is something more than admirable as 
mechanism,'' said Mr. Hazelford, stepping back : 
'- here is an awful grandeur of structure, which 
almost silences one with astonishment. What 
think you, my lads.^^'' 

The boys seemed to be similarly affected, for 
they gazed with lengthened faces, and scarcely 
could utter a word at first. 

" I should almost have thought it had been 
part of a very large ship," said Harold. 

" There is indeed a resemblance in the frame- 
work of the body," said Mr. Finsbury. " Let 
us examine it more attentively, and we shall find 
it admirably arranged to sustain, in proper form, 
the prodigious j^oa^m^ mass of the animal. The 
vital parts, you see, were protected by ribs, 
twenty-eight in number, which are perhaps even 
stronger than the timber-ribs of a vessel of this 
size. Notice particularly the surprising sub- 
stance of the bones in front of the chest, which 
had to resist the whole heaving force of the ap- 
proaching wave. The fins, v/hich appear scarcely 
of usual size on the living whale, are framed of 
arm and finger-bones seventeen feet long; and 



SKELETON OF THE WHALE. 115 

these limbs work in a socket on a shoulder-blade 
of surprising expanse and strength. 

" What part does the whalebone come from.^" 
asked Edward. 

" We will now view the head, and endeavour 
to find out," said Mr. Finsbury. " This part 
of the whale, you see, evidently is adapted, like 
a vast cavern, to receive shoals of small food, 
which require no violence to obtain. Here, 
therefore, are no teeth. One slip of whalebone 
is, you see, suspended perpendicularly from the 
upper jaw: of these there were four hundred on 
each side; so they formed a kind of cells, capa- 
ble of retaining an adequate supply of food when 
once lodged in the mouth.*''' 

" I think," said jMr. Hazelford, " that it 
would have been well to leave more of those 
bony plates, whereby their place and purpose 
might have been better understood. The lower 
jaw seems to be a sort of hoop, to sustain 
the fleshy cavity of the bottom of the mouth. 
We may judge, from the size of these bones, 
what the power was by which they were moved.'*' 

" The head is twenty-two feet in length," 



116 SKELETON OF THE WHALE. 

said Mr. Finsbury, " and the whole animal 
ninety-five feet long; yet, you see, the eye was 
no larger than that of a bullock." 

" Here, again," said Mr. Hazelford, " our 
own reason is able to discern wisdom. Had the 
eye been large, in proportion to the body, it must 
have been several feet in diameter, and would 
scarcely have escaped destruction a day. All 
the purposes of vision needful for the whale, are 
no doubt provided for by the eye, small and pro- 
tected as it is. But we have not yet examined 
the vertebrae, forming the back-bone, on which 
the muscles of the animal are fixed, through a 
length of nearly seventy feet. What think you 
of it, my young friends .^'*' 

Edward asked why it was made in so many 
pieces. 

" To admit of a certain degree of elasticity,'*' 
said Mr. Finsbury. " In this way, as no doubt 
you know, the spine of all animals which have one 
is formed. This is a piece of mechanism which 
entirely baffies human imitation. To combine 
strength and Jlewibility thus, required the wis- 
dom and power of a Creator. You see, the tail, 



THE BAZAARS. 117 

which is horizontal and crescent-shaped, is twen- 
ty-two feet wide, and must act upon a large mass 
of water. Nothing less than the substance and 
play of those sixty-two enormous bones, would 
have served the mechanical purposes required." 

Before leaving, the lads noted in their memo- 
randum book, the chief particulars they could 
learn respecting the size and weight of the fish* 
They were these: 

feet. 

Total length of the whale ^.^^^.^^ 95 

. head .^ ^.^ 22 



tongue ^^..^^ — 20 

vertebrae ....^.^^ 694 

Number of the vertebrae .^.^...^^ 62 

ribs __ ,___ 28 

Length of the fins and fingers .^^^^^ 17 
Width of the tail . ^ . 22i 

lbs. 

Weight of the fish .___ 480,000 

flesh ^......^^ 170,000 



They next entered one or two Bazaars, rather 
for the purpose of witnessing the mode of shop- 
keeping in other countries there exemplified, 
than with the design of buying or examining 
particular articles. 



118 THE BAZAARS. 

'^ These, to us, new sorts of markets, were 
copied^ I believe, from the East Indies,'*' said 
Mr. Finsbury : " they sprung up a few years 
ago, being introduced by a Mr. Trotter, and 
notwithstanding a considerable prejudice against 
them at first, I believe they now answer pretty 
well. Above four hundred female dealers are 
daily occupied in the sale of fancy articles of 
every kind; jewellery, watches, optical instru- 
ments, perfumery, stationery, books, prints, pic- 
tures, ladies' dresses, toys, and even pastry, may 
be had here for money, and not without; for I 
believe no credit is given."'' 

Our friends purchased one or two trifling arti- 
cles, and learned from the young person with 
whom they dealt, that about four feet of the 
long counter is called a counter there, and that 
for this three-pence a day is paid by the occu- 
pier; but generally, one person hires two, three, 
or four of these. They understood that esta- 
blishments of the kind were rather on the in- 
crease; there being one in Soho Square, another 
in Bond Street, called the Western Mart, the 
Burlington Arcade in Piccadilly, and a very 



HOAXING IN LONDON. 119 

extensive one in Portman Square, part of which 
was appropriated for the sale of horses, carriages, 
and harness. 

Passing right and left down, through, and 
along a number of streets, Mr. Finsbury led his 
guests at length into St. Martin's Lane. 

" I cannot think how it is," said Harold, 
" that the people in London find their way 
about: I had rather be in a wood." 

" So would I," said Mr. Finsbury, '^ but not 
on account of any difficulty of making my way 
in London streets, but because a wood is a plea- 
santer place than a city. Persons fron> the 
country are very often at a loss, and sometimes 
they ask of uncivil wags, who direct them wrong. 
I knew one young prig, residing inBucklersbury, 
half a mile to the east of St. Paul's, and his 
constant direction was, ' Go straight on till you 
come to Grovesnor Square, and then ask again;'' 
thus sending a simple enquirer four miles to 
obtain the intelligence of his mistake. The best 
way is to ask in some respectable shop, where 
the chance of misdirection is not so great. Ano- 
ther awkwardness of country-folks, is their gaping, 



120 CO VENT-GARDEN MARKET. 

gazing way of standing to behold city wonders: 
if they do not get knocked down by a porter, 
who usually calls ' by your leave,' too late, they 
are sure to be laughed at, and stand a chance 
of being set upon by pickpockets, who soon dis- 
cern a likely object for their tricks.^'' 

" I perceive,^'' said Mr. Hazelford, " that 
there is a regular rule of procedure in the streets; 
each stream of pedestrians keeps its own side of 
the way." 

" This is needful here as in driving,"'' said 
Mr. Finsbury, " only the rule is reversed. In 
walking, the plan is always to give the wall to 
those whose right hands are next it. In driving, 
those we meet pass us^ and we them, on the 
right." 

^^ Where are we now, sir?" exclaimed Harold. 
" What a quantity of fruit and cabbages !" 

" This is Covent-Garden Market," said Mr. 
Finsbury: '-' a sort of English bazaar, but of 
long standing, for the sale of fruit and vegeta- 
bles. Many of these markets exist in the metro- 
polis: the dealers are called salesmen, who do 
not in general vend their own commodities, but 




^ 



^ 



e 



BOW-STREET OFFICE. 121 

sell on commission for market-gardeners or far- 
mers in the country. The extent of land is very 
great indeed, which, within a few miles of Lon- 
don^ is devoted to the growth of table-fruit, and 
the more costly, as well as more abundant, table- 
vegetables. The produce of the hot-house finds 
its way hither as soon, or sooner, than my lord 
can obtain it from his own conservatory ; and the 
quantity of apples, pears, potatoes, cabbages, &c. 
sold here in the season, would seem almost in- 
credible. Those basket-women are waiting for 
an order from purchasers to carry their goods 
home for them. They will carry as much on 
their heads as some men can take on their backs. 
It is well to agree with them, if you can, and 
with all parties engaged here ; for they are not 
very scrupulous in the terms and measure of 
their resentment, when offended."' 

Passing up a narrow street, in their way from 
Covent Garden, a crowd was observed round the 
door of a house, and a large covered van stood in 
the midst of the throng. The why and the where- 
fore, of course, was expected by our country 
youths. 



122 BOW-STREET OFFICE. 

" That is the famous public office of Bow 
Street," said Mr. Finsbury : ^Hhat is a king's van, 
about to take some transgressor to prison, most 
likely. Let us keep clear of the mob, for the 
company is not very select, and will not proba- 
bly omit any opportunity of plunder even here."'' 

'^ Are the thieves condemned there .^'*' enquired 
Edward. 

" For certain smaller offences, the magistrates 
have power, by what is called summary convic- 
tion, to punish evil doers. In other cases, they 
can only commit to prison, to take their trial by 
a jury. But here again the law provides a 
remedy against too hasty a proceeding; for per- 
sons called the grand jury are to examine the 
charges and evidence before trial, and say whe- 
ther there is real cause to bring the party to his 
trial or not. If nof^ the bill of indictment is 
*said to be ignored; otherwise, it is called ^a 
true bill' *' 



123 



AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 

Mr. Finsbury's guests and household, had re- 
tired to rest, and had obtained about two hours' 
sleep, when a furious thundering noise roused 
even our youthful and somewhat wearied coun- 
try lads. A loud shouting in the street, with 
the sound of many running feet, mingled with 
the din. Harold and Edward at length opened 
their eyes, when the fierce, red glare which 
lighted up the room, accomplished all that was 
needful to drive sleep away. " Fire! fire!" was 
the cry. Knockers resounded, bells rang, and 
the neighbourhood was up in arms. 

By this time, Mr. Finsbury was in the lads' 
apartment. 

" Get up, young gentlemen," he said, " and 
put your clothes on as quickly and comfortably 
as you can: there is a fire in the next street. 
Nay, don't be alarmed, there is no danger here. 
I only wish you to go with me and Mr. Hazel- 
ford a few steps to a friend's house, where we 
can get upon the leads and see a little." 

G 2 



124 AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 

Leaving trusty persons within, under strict 
orders from their master to open the door to no 
one, the party proceeded down Basinghall Street ; 
Mr. Finsbury taking firm hold of the youths, 
and in a few minutes they reached the house of 
Mr. Burton, which had a full yet safe view of 
the flames. Entering by the back door, which 
opened into a court, Mr. Finsbury soon gained 
admission for himself and his guests: no waking 
was requisite, for all were stirring here. 

Mr. Finsbury asked of his friend particulars. 

" Four houses are down,'' said Mr. Burton, 
" and 1 fear three more must fall. Walk up." 

By those who have been quite unused to the 
spectacle of dwellings in flames, there is experi- 
enced, as there ought to be, a thrilling and fear- 
ful sensation of awe and anxiety, of commisera- 
tion and dread; more especially when human 
lives are in periL Mr. Hazelford strongly urged 
proceeding to assist. 

^' By no means do so," said Mr. Finsbury; 
''for this best of reasons— that as they have abun- 
dance of powerful and practised helpers, our pro- 
ceedings would but embarrass theirs." 



AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 125 

"Oh! dear Edward!" "Dear Harold!'' said 
the lads, with faces as white and long as you 
please. " Oh! how dreadful! such a roaring 
noise; and what a hissing! What is that knock- 
ing, sir?" 

" That/' said Mr. Finsbury, " is the work- 
ing of the engines you hear. See ! see the streams 
of water rise far above the buildings, and de- 
scend in showers upon them.'" 

" A humming, anxious noise amongst the 
crowd, apprised Mr. Finsbury that some im- 
portant and doubtful effort was being made. 
Changing his position on the roof a little, he 
perceived the truth. A resolute individual had 
issued from one window, to which a ladder was 
applied; but, instead of descending by it, he 
stepped upon a narrow ledge three stories from 
the ground, and entered another, from whence 
volumes of smoke proceeded. He was absent 
two or three minutes. Ruddy flames started 
into that apartment, as the individual reappeared 
with two children in his arms. A shriek now 
proceeded from the crowd, which was quickly 
succeeded by a loud " Huzza!" thrice repeated. 



126 AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 

as that courageous and determined man regained 
the window, stepped upon the ladder^ and safely 
descended with his prize. 

" These are the awful realities of life,'' said 
Mr. Hazelford, with strong emotion, " which 
some are called to encounter. Could /have done 
as much as that surprising man has accom- 
plished?" 

" Doubt it not, because you have not been 
called to the duty," said Mr. Finsbury. " That 
was the father of those dear children ; and I be- 
lieve so much for the honour of human nature, 
that there are few parents who would not do as 
much in effort, if not in successful result." 

The news now transpired that all lives were 
out of danger. Our friends felt an insupport- 
able burthen removed from their minds. The 
finishing act of a fire soon occurred, — the roof 
fell in with a tremendous crash ; clouds of sparks, 
smoke, and dust, rushed forth for an instant ; 
and very soon after, the flames were only visible 
on detached portions of timber about the ruins. 

" Now you can say you have seen a London 
fire, my boys,'' said Mr. Finsbury. 



AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 127 

But the lads were not ready with their accus- 
tomed alacrity to reply. 

"What is the matter, Harold — Edward? are 
you too a little overcome ?'''' 

The fact was, that the disturbance and the 
excitement had proved a little too much for our 
young friends : they were faint, and trembled all 
over. Mrs. Burton, with much kindness, insist- 
ed on administering necessary refreshments to 
them and their friends. A glass of wine, a warm 
room, and a little soothing language, presently 
made all right; and, at about four o'clock in the 
morning, the party returned to Mr. Finsbury's 
house, where they resumed once more their re- 
pose.^' 

After breakfast, which was not a very early 
one, Mr. Finsbury asked his guests if they would 
like to see the ruins. All were willing, and pro- 
ceeded to the spot. What a spectacle! The 
place on which five houses had stood the night 
before, and where their numerous inmates had, 
with accustomed security, as they imagined, re- 
sided, was now apparently occupied only by one 
tall, unsupported stack of chimnies in the mid- 



128 AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 

die, whose stove-grates, at their several altitudes, 
still retained their places. The blackened ends 
of the neighbouring houses, whose stairs and 
apartments were now exposed, seemed almost 
hanging in the air. Their windows broken to 
atoms, and their drenched walls, showed the 
apprehensions and the efforts they had called 
forth ; whilst the blistered shutters of the oppo- 
site houses clearly proved the intensity of the 
heat. 

" Oh! what is that long thing like a great 
snake .f^'*'' said Harold : " it reaches as far as that 
engine."" 

" That is the leathern pipe through which the 
water is discharged. You see, they can bring- 
that into situations where the engine could not 
enter. It extends a great length for that purpose. 
See ! they are using one now : parts of the ruins 
are smoking still. If you come round this way, 
you may peep in between the boards, and just 
see the remains of the grand feast that fire has 
had." 

" It all looks like a heap of coals,'" said Ed« 
ward. 



AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 129 

" It looks nearly like what it is, I calculate," 
said Mr. Hazelford; " but I see those men in 
red jackets keep watch over them." 

" Yes,'' said Mr. Finsbury, " they are fire- 
men belonging to the insurance companies, who 
are obliged to be on the alert whilst the salvage^ 
as it is called, remains unsorted. Here are scores 
of fellows and women waiting about for any 
chance that a moment's inadvertence on the part 
of those men might give them. Here, I see, 
are nine engines in sight.'' 

Returning, Mr. Finsbury explained the mea- 
sures which the legislature had adopted against 
the spread of fire, in the late building act. 

" These," said he, " were all old houses, sepa- 
rated only by thin partitions, and perhaps even 
connected with each other by doors. By recent 
acts of parliament, no such houses can now be 
built in London. Party-walls, entire through- 
out, of a certain thickness, and dividing the 
roofs, must be carried up between all new houses; 
the expense to be equally shared by the respec- 
tive proprietors. The fire of London, there- 
fore, cannot occur again, as formerly. The bene- 

G 5 



130 AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. 

ficial effects have frequently been experienced 
already. I have seen a vehement fire, which 
consumed a whole house in twenty minutes, but 
which had not the least effect on the adjoining 
dwellings ; only perhaps raising the thermometer 
a few degrees higher." 

" I should think that might be expected,''"' 
said Mr. Hazelford. 

" But/' continued Mr. Finsbury, " it is asto- 
nishing to see the stvipidity which needless fright 
makes persons exhibit sometimes on those occa- 
sions. I have actually seen furniture thrown 
from a three-story window, to prevent its being 
burned ; and what is worse, persons will some- 
times madly precipitate themselves, when there 
is no real need so to do." 

The disturbance of the past night inclined 
our friends to remain at home that day. Mr. 
Finsbury had business at the west end with Mr. 
Hazelford, and Harold and Edward passed the 
time without heaviness, in recounting some of 
the wonders they had lately seen. 



131 



OPENING THE NEW LONDON BRIDGE. 

When our friends visited this structure before, 
Mr. Finsbury was uncertain as to the possibility 
of procuring for his guests a view of the grand 
spectacle fixed for the 1st of August : he there- 
fore refrained from mentioning the subject in 
any way that might cause disappointment. It 
happened, however, that a friend of his had in- 
terest with another friend by the water-side, 
whose warehouses were sufficiently near to enable 
him to gratify many to a great degree. 

The grand attraction of the scene was, of 
course, the presence of the king and queen, who 
had engaged to honour the Londoners with a 
visit. The preparations for royalty on both 
sides the Thames, from Waterloo Bridge to that 
in question, had occupied several days. Boats 
and barges were formed into lines from Somerset 
Stairs to London Bridge, between which the 
procession was to pass. Many of these were 



[ 132 OPENING THE 

profusely decorated with flags : tiers of seats 
were raised on the toll-house of Southwark 
Bridge, and the road was much occupied with 
tents, platforms, &c. It must not, however, be 
supposed that the spectators at any one point 
could be aware, by observation, of these and the 
other particulars described. Mr. Finsbury pro- 
cured the information in a proper form from 
those who had other means of knowing them, 
and thus our readers also may better understand 
the business of the day. 

The preparations on the new bridge were upon 
a scale of tasteful magnificence. An awning, or 
pavilion, extending over a great part of the 
bridge, exhibited great skill in its design and 
execution; but that erected for their majesties 
and the other distinguished visitors, was still 
more splendid: it was on the London side. This 
pavilion was constructed chiefly of standards 
that had formerly waved oyer the armies of al- 
most every civilized nation in the world, and was 
of a truly princely character. It was the whole 
breadth of the bridge. At th6 four corners were 
placed, upon broad pedestals, groups of men in 



NEW LONDON BRIDGE. 133 

armour, which had an exceedingly picturesque 
effect. The pillars which supported this pavilion 
were adorned with flags, shields, helmets, and 
massive swords. 

Their majesties' seats were beneath a gor- 
geous canopy of state, of crimson cloth, the back 
of which was formed of plate-glass. To the right 
and left of this canopy, were places for the mem- 
bers of the royal family, the ministers, and many 
of the nobility. By a proper arrangement of 
the tables, a large open space was preserved be- 
fore their majesties, whose view of the whole of 
the company under the awning was free and 
unobstructed. From this pavilion, the awning 
extended along the bridge to the distance of about 
five hundred feet. On either side there were 
tables for the guests. On that part of the bridge 
which was not covered, the ornaments consisted 
of large flags, and these were placed at so small 
a distance from each other, that when swollen by 
the mud they nearly touched. Amongst them 
were the standards of the palaces of the chief 
foreign powers. Besides the flag of old Eng- 
land, were discerned the black eagles of Russia 



134 OPENING THE 

and of Prussia, the keys and mitre of the pope, 
the richly emblazoned shields of Venice, of 
the king of the Two Sicilies and of Spain, the 
flag of America, and the colours of the Trinity 
House. On the London side of the bridge, the 
landing-stairs were covered with crimson cloth. 
A most sumptuous repast was provided, which 
was supplied with eight hundred dozens of wine ! 
The king and queen, with their attendants, 
left St. James's palace in twelve carriages: the 
party reached Somerset House at three o'clock, 
their arrival being announced by the hoisting of 
the royal standard of England over the centre 
of the building, which signal was followed by 
the discharges of cannon from the wharfs and 
barges, and loud cheering from the surrounding 
crowds. The embarkation was a scene of pecu- 
liar interest: the king, with the queen on his 
arm, descended the stairs, and stepped into the 
royal harge. All the party being on board, the 
procession moved on. It consisted chiefly of 
city barges, the decoration of one of which cost 
upwards of a thousand pounds. The great offi- 
cers of state succeeded; then the royal barge. 




m 



Q ^ 

1^ 







H 
^ 



^E^V LONDON EEIDGE. 135 

with their majesties and numerous members of 
the royal family ; a second royal barge, contain- 
ing officers of the household; a third, containing 
ladies of the queen's estabhshment ; the state 
naval barge, with naval officers on board; the 
navy-office barge, and I know not how many 
other vessels, superbly fitted up. 

The scene at that moment was indescribably 
grand. The whole space within the lines, and a 
great part of that without, seemed one moving 
mass of resplendent magnificence; the flags and 
standards of every device and colour; the gay 
attire of countless thousands on the river and its 
banks; the waving of scarfs and handkerchiefs; 
the thunders of artillery, and the deafening 
shouts of the vast multitude; all contributed to 
give an effect to that memorable hour, of which 
none but those present could conceive. Our two 
country lads were wrapped in a kind of trance of 
astonishment. To point out this or the other 
object in particular, was out of the question: 
their eyes ached with looking, and their minds 
were impressed with an image which the years 
of a long life would scarcely efface. 



136 OPENING THE 

The king and queen, happily, were soon re- 
cognised and distinguished by their condescend- 
ing notice of the people. The affable courtesy 
of their sovereigns was the great source of ap- 
plause and pleasure to the admiring crowds. On 
their barge reaching the stairs of the bridge, 
the king and queen were handed out by persons 
concerned in the management of the undertaking, 
the completion of which was now celebrated in 
so gratifying a manner. Upon stepping ashore, 
the king addressed them in the following words: 
" Gentlemen, I am very glad to see you on Lon- 
don Bridge. It is certainly a most beautiful 
edifice, and the spectacle is the most grand and 
delightful that I ever witnessed." The king 
then paused to survey the scene around him, 
and acknowledged the cheers of the vast assem- 
bly by taking off his hat and repeatedly bowing. 

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, the sword 
and keys of the city were tendered to his ma- 
jesty by the lord mayor, when the king returned 
them, signifying that they should remain in that 
gentleman's hands. The chairman of the com- 
mittee then presented the king with a gold medal, 



NEW LONDON BRIDGE. 137 

commemorative of the opening of the bridge, 
having on one side an impression of the king's 
head, and on the reverse, a well executed repre- 
sentation of the new bridge, with particulars of 
its foundation and completion. Soon after this, 
Mr. Green ascended in his balloon from the 
Surrey side; a spectacle which, as it was now 
exhibited by that high-minded personage for the 
hundred and ninety-second time, was not so new 
to the people in general as to our young friends, 
whose eyes wandered far from the splendours 
beneath, to trace the unknown voyage of the 
aeronauts. They descended in Surrey, at about 
thirty miles distance, in the evening. 

The party having witnessed the balloon in its 
rise and course for some time, returned to the 
pavilion, and partook of the sumptuous banquet 
prepared for their refreshment. The king, on 
receiving a golden cup of wine from the lord 
mayor, said: " I cannot but refer, on this occa- 
sion, to the great work which has been accom- 
plished by the citizens of London. The city 
of London has been renowned for its magnificent 
improvements, and we are commemorating an 



138 OPENING THE NEW LONDON BRIDGE. 

extraordinary instance of their skill and talent. 
I shall propose the source from whence these 
improvements sprung — ^The trade and commerce 
of the city of London.' " 

Shortly after this, the royal party rose and 
retired, leaving the citizens to continue the en- 
tertainment at their pleasure. At about six 
o'clock they re-embarked, and proceeded on the 
river to the stairs of Somerset House. 

Our friends, who had taken their station early 
in the day, and had been confined to a very 
narrow space on the seat assigned them, had by 
this time seen enough : they were highly inter- 
ested, but fatigue at last rendered them desirous 
of the end of this grand pageant. It was long, 
however, before Mr. Finsbury thought it pru- 
dent for them to attempt making their v/ay 
through the hurrying crowds around. At length 
he took an opportunity of leading the way 
through some of the less thronged streets, and in 
due time reached home, their eyes and ears still 
full of the things which had so long and exclu- 
sively occupied their attention. 



139 



THE NEW POST OFFICE.— A VOYAGE 

TO THE NORE.— THE TRAVELLERS 

RETURN. 

Our adventurers were not engaged with all these 
matters in the same day; but we must include 
our notice of them in one chapter, or our in- 
tended little book may prove a great one. 

" There is no country,*" said Mr. Finsbury. 
one morning, " which can compare with Eng- 
land in the facilities of correspondence by letter. 
Our new London Post Office, which has lately 
been built and opened for business, is somewhat 
more adequate, in appearance and extent, to this 
part of our national business, than the former 
uncouth building in Lombard Street. I have 
business at the new office this morning: if agree- 
able, we will go in company.'*' 

Arrived at the spot, Mr. Finsbury took his 
visitors to the pavement opposite the front, which 
gives the best view of the structure. 

" I should have thought," said Mr. Hazel- 



140 NEW POST OFFICE. 

ford, " that half that edifice would have been 
enough for the purpose; but, of course, it was 
not swelled for show." 

" By no means,**' said Mr. F. '' although it is 
nearly four hundred feet long, one hundred and 
thirty feet wide, and sixty-four high. The 
amount of business transacted there is beyond 
any man's conjecture. The gross receipt of 
money for letters in the year 1827, was two mil- 
lions three hundred and ninety-two thousand 
two hundred and seventy-two pounds! After 
deducting all expenses, government gained more 
than one million six hundred thousand pounds. 
In the time of Cromwell, when government first 
took the thing in hand, its revenue was ten 
thousand pounds: fifty years after it was a 
hundred thousand pounds. In the middle of 
last century, it had risen to two hundred and 
thirty-five thousand pounds; and towards 1792, 
it was six hundred thousand pounds." 

" How many connexions and interests must 
have taken place, and been maintained, merely 
by this establishment!'" said Mr. H. 

" In fact, it makes any man a citizen of the 



VOYAGE TO THE NORE. 141 

world," said his friend: '' intercourse is opened 
not only with and between every city, town, and 
village in the kingdom ; but messengers are dis- 
patched all the world over by the same means. 
The business, therefore, is of course very com- 
plicated. There is the inland-office, in which 
are two hundred and thirty clerks and others 
employed: the returned letter office; the dead- 
letter office; the ship-letter office; the foreign 
office; the letter-bill office; the bye-letter office; 
and so on. There are nearly nine millions of 
letters received in London from the mail-coaches 
in the course of a year.'' 

"I shall no longer w^onder at the size of the 
building," said Mr. H. 

" And now^," said Mr. Finsbury, taking out 
his watch, '' there is still time enough, I think, to 
allow of a little excursion, which perhaps may 
be somewhat more entertaining to our young 
masters here than the view of the Post Office, 
grand as it is. We have been rumbling about 
in carriages, or pacing the streets with weary 
steps; w^e will now go further wdth less trouble. 
I see, by this morning's paper, that a steam- 



142 VOYAGE TO THE NOKE. 

vessel will start in an hour for the Nore^ for the 
benefit of some charity: we will make our way 
to the river, and be aboard in a trice." 

" How good you are, sir/' said Harold, grate- 
fully looking up in Mr. Finsbury's face. 

" I am sufficiently paid,'"* said the kind-hearted 
and intelligent gentleman, "by the knowledge 
and amusement which I believe you have de- 
rived from your visit. I know yours is the age 
when the mind's eye is most clearly open; and 
it is a pity that important objects should not 
then be placed before it." 

Once more the party found themselves on the 
banks of the Thames : a boat was not now neces- 
sary. They stepped from the quay along a 
plank, and were on board " The Rwer-Fltf 
steam-boat in a very short time. 

This was another new scene to young eyes. 
The vessel, the company, the management, the 
accommodations, called their attention every way 
at once. 

" Is not this a very great ship.?" enquired 
Edward. 

''It is a mere boat, compared with many 



VOYAGE TO THE NOKE. 143 

around us/' said Mr. F. " It differs too in other 
respects beside size : cannot you tell me in 
what?" 

" Oh! it is so nicely painted/' said Harold. 

" And we have music here/' said Edward. 

" Come, look again at that large vessel lying 
close by; examine her apparatus for sailing, and 
then examine ours.*'*' 

'' I see no smoke coming from the top of their 
masts/' said Harold; '^ but ours seems like a 
chimney. What is that rushing noise, sir ? 
Dear me, all those ships are moving by us at 
once!" 

" Nay,'' said Mr. Finsbury, laughing; '' and 
do not you see that the old Tower of London is 
going with them .^" 

" Now I see, sir," said Edward, " we are 
moving ; and yet how strange it is ! — it almost 
seems as if every thing else was going instead." 

" We are going," said Mr. H.; " and yet we 
have no sails, and what wind there is, is against 
us!" 

" Do not you know this is a steam-boat.^" said 
Mr. Finsbury. 



144 VOYAGE TO THE NOHE. 

" We had quite forgotten that/' said the boys; 
" but I don't see yet how we move along." 

" That rushing, splashing noise you hear, is 
occasioned by the fins of this great blowing 
fish. See now! the Tower, and Custom-House, 
and London Bridge, are already in the dis- 
tance/' 

Mr. Finsbury then pointed out the parts of 
the vessel and machinery to the two lads, and 
explained all much to their satisfaction. The 
steam-engine they saw at work on such a scale 
as permitted them better to view and comprehend 
it than before. Up again upon deck, the scene 
on the river and its banks was greatly changed: 
the great mass of vessels was gone, and the banks 
showed something like green grass in places. 
The boys were astonished. 

" The motion is indeed insensible below,^** 
said Mr. F.; '^ but the progress is swift and 
surprising, and all occasioned by the steam from 
a little boiling water, which wants to get away. 
It was long before steam-boats were ventured 
out at sea; but now they go, I believe to the 
East Indies.' 



VOYAGE TO THE NORE. 145 

" How very ill that poor gentleman seems,"'' 
said Harold, in a whisper: " I wonder what is 
the matter!" 

" Perhaps you will know soon without tell- 
ing,'' said Mr. Finsbury. '' Come now below, 
and we will take refreshment." 

A really elegant luncheon, or cold dinner, 
was now spread out, with a plentiful supply of 
the usual elements of good cheer. Ham and 
fowl, beef and veal, eggs and pastry, foaming 
ale and sparkling cider, crowned the board, to 
which our friends sat down with many others; 
some of whom appeared, by their dress, to be 
very stylish folks, but who, by their manner of 
eating and talking, somewhat dispelled that 
illusion. 

But a good many, who had been very vivacious 
before, appeared suddenly changed, and addicted 
themselves to solemnity. 

" Oh! I know what is the matter,**' whispered 
Harold: " they are sea-sick." 

" You are a shrewd little fellow,''" said Mr. 
Finsbury : " mind you do not soon put on as 
long a visage as they.'" 

H 



146 VOYAGE TO THE NORE. 

" Oh! no, sir, we are quite well: shall we 
go upon deck?'' 

" Aye, we will." 

But Harold no sooner reached the upper air, 
and saw the river-banks gliding past the vessel, 
than he staggered. 

"What is the matter now?**' said Mr. Fins- 
bury. 

"Oh! sir, I am sure I am not well at all,*" 
said Harold; and Edward soon communicated 
the same heart-rending intelligence. In short, 
they were not in the humour for any further 
novelties during the rest of the voyage. The 
feasting and music at the Nore; the fine width 
of the river at that part; Tilbury Fort, and 
Gravesend ; stopping the engine, and setting her 
off again, — nothing external or internal had any 
charms for the poor holiday-makers now.': in- 
deed, they scarcely spoke, until they had returned 
to Mr. Finsbury's house, had a good night's 
rest, and found the steady forms of solid land 
about them. 

The next morning brought an expected letter 
for Harold and Edward from West Hill House: 



grandpapa's letter. 147 

their aged grandfather wrote to them as fol- 
lows. 

'^ My dear Boys, 

'^ I AM sure your kind friends must 
be tired of you now, and I am tired of being 
alone without you. Tell Mr. Finsbury I shall be 
affronted, if he does not come and make my house 
his home this summer. Let Mr. Hazelford know 
that old England is the best place in all the world. 
I must see you to-morrow by coach — mind that. 
Tell Mr. Finsbury, there is a hamper for him at 
the inn ; and I think he must be hampered 
enough with you already. Mr. Hazelford, I 
hope, will return here with you, to see you all 
safe. 

Your affectionate 

Grandfather, 

SAMUEL HAZELFORD.' 



West Hill, 
August, 1831. 

h2 



148 



RETURN HOME. 



Harold handed the note to Mr. Finsbury. 

" Well,'' said he, " if so it must be, we must 
submit ; but I shall feel as dull when you are 
gone, as your grandfather does now.'" 

Every thing that could be thought of to render 
the departure of his guests comfortable and cheer- 
ful, was done by the friendly Londoner, Mr. Fins- 
bury. He contrived to put several very hand- 
somely bound volumes respecting the metropolis 
and its wonders into their trunk, with other pre- 
sents. He went with the party to the Bull Inn, 
saw them and their luggage safely in the stage, 
and returned to his own house. 

Mr. Hazelford, and the two objects of his 
charge, in due time drew near the well-known 
spot. The church tower, the windmill, the new 
bridge, and finally, the green gate, the old house, 
and their venerable relative standing at his door, 
who was getting a little fidgetty about time^ 
soon convinced them that they were no longer 
at Mr. Finsbury 's. The old gentleman'^s face 
moved, and he shed a tear as he drew them in. 
Bridget was all life and joy, but remarked how 
dingy folks looked that came out of London 
smoke. 



RETURN HOME. 149 

Mr. Hazelfordj our American friend, con- 
tinued at West Hill House a fortnight longer, 
and assisted the lads in their loquacious account 
of the " Month in London.'' 



FURTHER PARTICULARS OF LONDON. 



We have not thought it advisable to interrupt 
our narrative of the " Month in London," by 
the matters announced for this chapter, because 
they were not circumstances which could come 
sufficiently under the observation of our young 
friends during their short visit. Mr. Finsbury 
supplied the information in the form of books 
upon the subject generally; and we hereby pre- 
sent our readers, in conclusion, with a few pages, 
in order that they may not be quite at a loss, 
nor think our little book incomplete. 

We know not how old London is; that is, we 
cannot tell when it was that Britons first thought 
of forming a town or city there. Although learn- 
ed men may regret this want of knowledge, I 
am not afraid that youthful enquirers will sigh 
much on account of their ignorance on this point. 



152 ANCIENT LONDON. 

It will be sufficient to say, perhaps, that Caesar, 
who invaded Britain about fifty years before the 
time of Christ, found a settlement of the ancient 
inhabitants on the same spot. It was then a 
small village, consisting of wicker-work and 
straw-roofed huts, surrounded by woods and 
marshes. When this became a Roman colony, 
the first improvements were made, and the place 
began to have a name in history. It was sur- 
rounded by a wall of defence, and was placed 
under regular government and city laws. In 
about four hundred years, we find that nearly a 
thousand vessels were employed in trade with 
this port. The residence and rule of the Ro- 
mans here is proved not alone from history: in- 
numerable remains of their foundations, sepul- 
chres, urns, pottery, coins, and pavements, have 
been turned up from time to time; and there is 
no difficulty at all in ascertaining to what nation 
these things must have belonged. 

London having been made by the Romans a 
place of considerable extent and importance, con- 
tinued to be such under all the succeeding 
powers^ (Saxon, Danish, Norman, and again 



ANCIENT LONDON. 153 

English,) which have obtained the dominion. 
But its rise and increase were continually check- 
ed by calamities with which happily London 
has not been for many years afflicted — war, fa- 
mine^and pestilence: these awful visitations often 
happened in train, and occasioned each other. 
Fire, also, although frequent enough now in 
single dwellings, is comparatively harmless, when 
we reflect that London, when formed of thatched 
and wooden houses, was repeatedly destroyed in 
former ages. The houses and churches, how- 
ever, were rebuilt and greatly improved, as civi- 
lization advanced; and so long as a thousand 
years ago, edifices were raised of which any 
modern architect would be proud. 

The Doomsday Book, which contained an 
account of nearly all the estates in the kingdom 
in the reign of William the Conqueror, tells us 
that Holborn then consisted of only a few little 
houses on the banks of a small river, called the 
Old Bourn; and Norton Falgate was a small 
rural manor belonging to St. Paul's. There 
were then two castles within the city, besides 
the Tower. In the reign of Stephen, it does not 

h5 



15* 



OLD LONDON. 



appear that London exceeded the extent of one 
of our middhng country-towns, yet it continued 
gradually improving. 

There is a curious account of London, written 
by a monk of Canterbury, nearly seven hundred 
years ago. It appears that the city was then 
bounded on the land side by a high wall, fur- 
nished with turrets, and seven double gates. Be- 
tween Westminster and the city, were some miles 
of beautiful country, consisting of gardens and 
orchards belonging to the citizens, who were 
themselves every where known and respected 
above others, for their civil demeanour, their 
goodly apparel, their well-furnished tables, and 
their discourse ! On the north of the city, that 
is, where squares and streets innumerable now 
stand, were open meadow and pasture-lands; 
and a little beyond, a great forest, in the woody 
coverts of which lurked the stag, the wild boar, 
and the bull. With the three principal churches 
T/ere connected three famous schools : upon holy- 
days the scholars, flocking together about the 
church, where the master had his abode, were 
accustomed to argue on different subjects, arid 



OLt) LONDON. 155 

to exercise their abilities in oratorical harangues. 
The handicraft men, the venders of wares, and 
the labourers for hire, were every morning to be 
found at their distinct and proper places, as is 
still common in the bazaars of the east; and on 
the river's bank was a public cookery and eating- 
place belonging to the city, where whatsoever 
multitude, and however daintily inclined, might 
be supplied with proper food. Without one of 
the gates also, in a certain plain field, (Smith- 
field,) on every Friday, unless a solemn festival, 
was a great market for horses, whither earls, 
barons, knights, and citizens, repaired to see and 
to purchase. To this, city merchants brought 
their wares from every nation under heaven: 
the Arabian sent his gold; the Sabaeans spice 
and frankincense ; the Scythians armour; Baby- 
lon its oil;* Egypt precious stones; India purple 
vestments; Norway and Russia, furs, sables, 
and ambergris; and Gaul, its wines. " I think,'''* 
continues this writer, (Fitzstephen,) "there is 
no city that hath more approved customs, either 

* Our readers are at liberty to douU the correctness of 
the old historians in some of these particulars. 



156 OLD LONDON. 

in frequenting the churches, honouring God's 
ordinances, observing holy days, giving alms, 
entertaining strangers, and so on. The only 
plagues are the intemperate drinking of foolish 
people, and the frequent fires." 

Such were the observations and notions of our 
ancient historian. From others who have writ- 
ten upon London, we collect information respect- 
ing it in succeeding ages. It was long indeed 
before the metropolis of England exhibited signs 
of splendour, or even of comfort, in its streets 
and houses. In the time of Edward the First, 
six hundred years ago, the dwellings in London 
were chiefly built of wood^ and thatched with 
straw or reeds ; the latter obtained from the fens 
of Finsbury^ or Moorfields! Many brooks and 
small rivers ran into the Thames through the 
city : some of these are now directed into other 
channels, and others are covered over. It was 
customary, at one time, for the lord mayor, ac- 
companied by the aldermen and certain citizens 
on horseback, to visit the spring-heads annually 
in September, where they hunted a hare before 
dinner, and a focc after it, in the fields of St. 



,M 



OLD LONDON. 157 

Gileses. In the reign of Henry the Fifth, the 
city was first lighted at night, by means of lan- 
terns hung on ropes, which extended across the 
streets. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
London had but a wretched and comfortless ap- 
pearance, at least so we should now think. The 
streets were obstructed by lay-stalls, the sewers 
were insufficient drains; few streets were paved 
at all, and the houses leaned over so far, that 
they almost met at the top, whilst the space be- 
low was obscured by innumerable sign-boards, 
for then every trade almost had its sign, which 
projected across the way into the street. As 
to the interior of the dwellings, Erasmus tells 
us that the floors were commonly of clay, strewed 
with rushes, which were sometimes renewed, 
without however removing the collection of un- 
tidy matters beneath them. Even in the reign 
of Elizabeth, the presence-chamber of Green- 
wich palace was strewed with hay, according to 
the English fashion. 

To those of our readers who are acquainted 
with London in its present state, the description 
of it in the time of Elizabeth, when it was 



158 LONDON IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

thought too large^ cannot but be surprising and 
curious. Almost the whole metropolis was then 
contained within the walls, in which were many 
gardens and waste places. Cattle grazed in the 
neighbourhood of the Tower. The Spitalfields 
were then separated from each other by hedges 
and rows of trees. Houndsditch had only a few 
houses, whose gardens opened towards the fields. 
Moorfields lay open to Hoxton, and many wind- 
mills were situated in Finsbury fields. Holborn 
was a village, as we have said. St. Giles''s was 
another village, quite separated from London. 
The Strand had gardens on each side, and con- 
tained only a few houses of the nobility. Covent 
Garden was a convent garden; but I doubt 
much whether it was quite so productive as at 
present ! Westminster was a small town quite 
distinct from London. Yet so strangely afraid 
was Elizabeth that the extent of the city would 
cause frequent pestilence, that she strictly pro- 
hibited the erection of houses on new founda- 
tions. Her commands, however, in this respect, 
were not very carefully obeyed, for London con- 
tinued to spread notwithstanding. 



THE PLAGUE AND FIRE. 159 

It is probable, that London would have pre- 
sented a far different appearance now, and have 
resembled the ancient city much more nearly, 
had it not been for the most surprising event of 
the kind recorded in history. This was the 
great fire, which happened in September, 1666, 
in the reign of Charles the Second. We 
ought, however, to notice an event of another 
kind, and even more awful, which happened 
just before; I mean the great plague. This 
pestilence had frequently visited the metropolis 
in former ages, and had destroyed thousands 
at each period; but from December, 1662, to 
January, 1666, it cut off above a hundred thou- 
sand persons, and caused a complete stoppage to 
business, so that grass grew in the Royal Ex- 
change. Pits were dug to contain the bodies, and 
carts went rovmd by night, with the doleful cry 
''Bring out your dead! bring out your dead! ^' 
The streets by day, were silent and solitary, the 
shops were closed, and society seemed to have un- 
dergone a dissolution. 

Now it has been thought, that the great fire 
which happened the year following, though a 



160 



THE GREAT FIRE. 



grievous calamity, was not without its use in con- 
suming those dwellings and property, which might 
have retained the lurking contagion amongst them. 
It commenced, we know not how, two hundred and 
two feet from the spot where the Monument now 
stands, which distance is the exact height of the 
column, and raged with irresistible fury four days 
and nights, in which time it destroyed four hun- 
dred streets, thirteen thousand two hundred houses, 
eighty-nine churches, besides chapels, four of the 
city gates, and a vast number of the most impor- 
tant and stately public buildings of the metropolis. 
It is supposed, that property to the amount of 
ten millions was consumed. When the fright 
was over, an act of parhament for rebuilding 
the city was passed, and it gradually arose from 
its ashes. London, therefore, does not exhi- 
bit many architectural antiquities: only a, few 
churches escaped, so that what we now see, are 
comparatively modern. 

We shall take notice of one more event 
in the history of London; of which, I doubt 
not, many of my readers have heard their pa- 
rents speak. I mean the riots of I78O. 



RIOTS OF I78O. 161 

We have grown so far wiser now, that we 
do not persecute persons for exercising the rights 
of conscience in religious matters. The Ro- 
man Catholics have lately been relieved from 
oppressive laws, under which they long laboured. 
In the year 1780, a petition was framed, to be 
presented to parliament against the relief to the 
Catholics which had then been afforded ; and 
the mob, on this occasion, seemed to be not ex- 
actly in the humour of humble petitioners to 
their rulers. They surrounded the Parliament 
Houses, to the number of many thousands, with 
Lord George Gordon at their head, who, there 
is little doubt, was insane. After having in 
vain attempted to force open the doors of the 
House of Lords, they separated into parties, 
and began the work of devastation, They 
quickly demolished the Catholic chapels, the 
prison of Newgate, several public offices and 
mansions of the nobility ; and threatened to pull 
down the Bank, the Temple, the royal palaces, 
and the Arsenal of Woolwich. For some time, 
they set all opposition at defiance; thirty-six 
fires were seen blazing at once; the great dis- 



162 



PRESEIST STATE OF LONDON. 



tilleries were broken into; and the streets flowed 
with the liquor, which caused, by intoxication, the 
death of many. Now were heard the mingled 
shouts of the lawless multitude, and the firing of 
the military; who were at length called in to 
the assistance of the civil power. Business was 
suspended ; sleep and rest were impossible to the 
distressed inhabitants: at length the arrival of 
fresh troops, and the certainty of destruction in 
resisting them, brought the insurgents to some- 
thing like reason. They abandoned th^ir work 
of ruin, but not until three hundred lives had 
been sacrificed, and property to an incalculable 
amount. 

And now we must give a short description of 
London as it exists at present. Our information 
must be drawn from various sources, and quite 
distinct from what could be afforded by a mere 
visit of a month or a year. Walking, riding, 
sailing, even balloon-flying, will not avail to 
give that knowledge to any one enquirer, which 
books, the result of enquiries by very many, 
will afford us. 

London, seated on both sides of the Thames, is 



PRESENT LONDON. 



163 



about sixty miles from the sea. It is distant, 
from Edinburgh three hundred and ninety-five 
miles, Paris two hundred and twenty-five, Berlin 
five hundred and forty, Vienna eight hundred 
and twenty, Petersburgh one thousand one hun- 
dred and forty, Rome nine hundred and fifty, 
Constantinople one thousand six hundred and 
sixty. Very few spots could have been selected 
so well calculated for a vast city, as that on 
which our metropolis stands. By the side of a 
noble river, on an extended plain, or nearly so; 
supplied with a soil, which forms the finest 
bricks, and possessing an air, naturally salubri- 
ous; it is no wonder that London, aided by the 
known genius and enterprise of Englishmen, 
has increased to a first-rate capital. 

It comprises, in fact, at present, three (once 
distinct) towns or cities, and I know not how 
many neighbouring villages ; so that it is diffi- 
cult, as we have seen, to draw the line and say — 
here London begins or ends. Its extent of uni- 
ted buildings from east to west, is fully seven 
miles and a half, and its breadth is above five 
miles; the circuit cannot be less than thirty 



164 LONDON AND SUBURBS. 

miles. Including the space occupied by the 
Thames, this extent is equal to eighteen square 
miles. London may be divided into six parts, 
of which the city is the central, and most ancient 
portion. This was long the grand metropolis of 
commerce and manufactures, and is still occupied 
almost entirely by shops, public offices, and 
conveniences for work and business. The west- 
ern suburb includes Westminster, and the 
streets by which London joins it. Here we find 
royal palaces, residences of many of the nobility, 
the houses of parliament, and courts of justice, 
with various government-offices, theatres, and so 
on. The north-west part, is now the most splen- 
did and fashionable part of London. This, 
with the last division, forms what is called the 
west end of the town. The northern part in- 
cludes the several villages of Hoxton, Islington, 
Pentonville, Somers-town, St. Pancras, and some 
others. The east of London is its least attrac- 
tive part, and is that by which our travellers en- 
tered on their visit. Towards the river, the in- 
habitants of this east end of the town, are much 
occupied with shipping, and naval commerce. 



I 



GOVERNMENT OF LONDON. 165 

The south of London comprises that vast as- 
semblage of buildmgs which , skirting the 
Thames from Rotherhithe to Vauxhall, extends 
more than two miles from the river side. This 
includes the ancient borough of South wark: in 
which are innumerable manufactories of various 
kinds; as iron-foundries, glass-houses, dye- 
houses, shot-manufactories, breweries, distille- 
ries, and so on. 

Now we may form, perhaps, some idea of the 
size of London, by reflecting that it contains 
seventy squares, nine thousand streets, lanes, 
alleys, &c. and about one hundred and sixty 
thousand houses ! whilst the inhabitants amount 
to the astonishing number of one million 
three hundred thousand. 

Now, as, unfortunately, these are not all good, 
quiet people, who are content to mind their 
own business, various institutions and offices of 
government for the metropolis have been ap- 
pointed, and are maintained. The chief magis- 
trate of the city, is the Lord Mayor, who with 
the aldermen and common council, form a sort 
of legislature for the capital, with the sheriffs 



166 LOUD mayor's day. 

to undertake the punishment of offenders. 
These worshipful personages, form what is called 
the corporation of London. The ninth of No- 
vember, when the new lord mayor enters upon 
office, is a grand show day in the city. His 
lordship proceeds from Guildhall to Blackfriars 
Bridge in his state coach, attended by the she- 
riffs in their state carriages, by the aldermen in 
theirs, and the livery of London in their gowns. 
iVt the bridge, all these embark on board the 
state barge, and the several trading companies 
also proceed in their own splendid vessels, and 
accompany the corporation to Westminster. 
Now is the time to be on Westminster, or some 
of the nearest bridges; at least for those few 
country folks, who have never seen any thing 
more striking than a recruiting party with their 
cockades. The lord mayor's business at West- 
minster, is, to be sworn in at the various courts 
of justice; when he receives, generally, a soleinn 
exhortation from the judges, who afterwards 
dine with him at the city feast. The party then 
retur nto their barges, accompanied by hundreds 
of boats, and viewed by countless spectators. 



POLICE OFFICES. 167 

who line the river banks. Bands of music, and 
every imaginable means of the kind, keep up 
the interest of the occasion. On relanding at 
Blackfriars Bridge, the procession now increased 
by a number of horse and footmen, in polished 
steel armour, returns to Guildhall, where a grand 
dinner and ball are given, at which the ministers 
and great officers of state, and many of the no- 
bility, are commonly present, besides at least 
one thousand of the most opulent male and 
female citizens. The expense of the entertain- 
ment is usually about three thousand pounds, 
of which my lord mayor is expected to pay 
half. 

Persons used to London are seldom so much off 
their guard as to be plundered by thieves as they 
go along the streets. However, to provide against 
such occurrences, and other acts of fraud or 
violence, public offices are open, where magis- 
trates and officers attend to give needed assist- 
ance. Besides this, street-keepers, new police- 
men, and watchmen at night, are always at hand, 
and thus the ways are kept pretty safe and quiet. 
Mark too that there are watch-houses, in which 



168 THE TOWER. 

disorderly persons, who are out late without ap- 
parent cause, may be accommodated with a lodg- 
ing, and a morning call on the magistrate on the 
succeeding day. It is therefore as well to take 
care, lest, through ill designs or negligence, our 
worthy selves should happen thus to be unex- 
pectedly situated. 

And now we must say a word or two respect- 
ing those public buildings of the metropolis 
which our country friends had not time to ex- 
amine particularly. 

The Tower of London is the most interesting 
building of the kind, perhaps in England. Con- 
nected with the capital, it has been the scene 
of innumerable events combined with the des- 
tinies of our ancient rulers and nobles. We 
have not room to recount these, and, indeed, 
the narrative rather belongs to the English his- 
tory of the periods. There is reason to believe 
that a fortress existed here before the Norman 
invasion. It was, however, William the Con- 
queror who commenced the present edifice, to 
overawe the somewhat discontented citizens of 
London. That part called the White Tower, 



THE TOWER. 169 

was his especial work. Succeeding kings en- 
larged, repaired, and strengthened it from time 
to time. The ditch which surrounds it was 
cleansed and deepened as lately as the winter of 
1830. The space within the line of this moat 
contains several streets and houses distinct from 
the ancient fortress, but yet under its protection 
and government. 

The Tower is almost the only place to which 
our readers are likely to have access, wherein 
the ancient form, appurtenances, and routine of 
a castle are kept up and exhibited. Here are 
a draw-bridge, donjons, towers or keeps, mounted 
guns, a surrounding moat, gates, and a port- 
cullis, with many other matters generally disused 
now, but which existed once about the residence 
of every powerful nobleman in the kingdom. 
The care and order observed every morning and 
evening in opening and shutting the gates, are 
at least curious for the antiquity of the custom. 
In the morning, the yeoman-porter, with a Ser- 
jeant and six men, goes to the governor's house 
for the keys. Having received them, he proceeds 
to the innermost gate, and passing that, it is 

I 



170 THE TOWER. 

again shut. He then opens the three outermost 
gates, at each of which the guards rest their fire- 
locks while the keys pass and repass. On his 
return to the innermost gate, he calls to the 
warders on duty to take " King William's 
keys^'' when they open the gate, and the keys 
are placed in the warder's hall. At night, the 
same formality is used in shutting the gates. 
As the yeoman-porter with his guard is returning 
with the keys to the governor's house, the main 
guard, which, with its officers, is under arms, 
challenges him with, " Who comes there f He 
answers, '^ The keys,^^ The guards, by order, 
rest their firelocks, and the yeoman porter says, 
" God save King William i'" the soldiers an- 
swering, '^ Amen !"' The keys are then left at the 
governor's house, after which none can pass with- 
out permission, and the watchword of the night. 

It must not be supposed that all this precau- 
tion is quite useless at present; for the Tower 
is a grand repository of national arms, stores, 
treasures, and records; and the intrusion of un- 
known strangers without leave might lead to the 
most dangerous consequences. 



THE TOWER. I7I 

The parts of the Tower usually shown to 
visitors are. The Lions' J^ower^ or menagerie, 
built by Edward the Fourth, now containing a 
fine collection of wild beasts ; The Spanish 
Armoury^ in which are contained the trophies 
of Queen Elizabeth's famous victory over the 
Spanish Armada. Here too are shown the axe 
which beheaded Ann Boleyn, and a representa- 
tion of Elizabeth on horseback. The Small 
Armoury is one of the finest rooms of the kind 
in Europe: it is three hundred and forty-five 
feet long, and sixty wide, and contains arms for 
a hundred and seventy thousand men. The 
Royal Train of Artillery is a vast room, hung 
round with various implements and warlike tro- 
phies taken from the enemy. Tremendous pieces 
of cannon, some of them of ancient date, are ex- 
hibited here. 

The Horse Armoury is an exceedingly inter- 
esting sight. The suits of armour belonging to 
the chief personages of English history are here 
regularly arranged, from Edward the First to 
James the Second. 

The Jewel Office will strike the attention of 

I 2 



172 INDIA HOUSE. 

some more than any thing else in the Tower. 
The splendid valuables here, called the Regalia, 
are not to be equalled by any similar collection 
in Europe. The crowns, old and new, with 
various implements of magnificence used at coro- 
nations, are worth some millions of money, load- 
ed as they are with precious stones of the finest 
size and lustre. A sort of closet is made for 
them, fenced with strong bars, and receiving no 
light but that from a brilliant lamp, which is con- 
stantly burning. On Tower Hill, the spot on which 
state offenders used to be executed, is now erect- 
ed a large building, called The Mint, where the 
coin of the kingdom is produced by machinery. 

As few of our readers will have any curiosity to 
satisfy regarding the colloquial dealings of the noted 
personages ofthe fish-market, Billingsgate,we shall 
not detain them at the river side, but proceed 
next to that grand commercial building, the India 
House. Our limits, however, will admit of but 
a very slight notice of this and the other edifices 
of London. The India House is in Leadenhall 
Street, and is the place where the home business 
of the great trading chartered company to the East, 



ROYAL EXCHANGE. 173 

is transacted. The business of a vast empire, and 
its most extensive traffic, is here arranged, and 
sales of their produce are effected. The present 
building was erected about thirty-two years ago, 
and is considered a fine example of civil archi- 
tecture. The greater part may be seen by stran- 
gers free of expense, and the rest by a trifle to 
the porters. A museum, containing various 
oriental curiosities, is exhibited to those who 
take the proper means of admission. 

The Royal Exchange is the noblest monu- 
ment we have of the public spirit and munifi- 
cence of an individual. Sir Thomas Gresham, 
in 1566, offered the city of London to build them 
an edifice for the public resort of their merchants 
and others from foreign nations, if they would 
find him the ground. The offer was readily 
accepted, and a building, then called the Burse, 
was raised at his sole expense. Queen Eliza- 
beth, however, at a grand city entertainment, 
gave it the name it now bears — The Royal Ex- 
change. 

It is a large quadrangle or square, the sides 
of which are formed by buildings resting on open 



174 THE BANK. 

arches. Under these the various merchants 
meet and deal according to their several pur- 
poses, and in their peculiar tongues. The hum 
and bustle of this busy scene, in the middle of 
the day, cannot but be highly curious and inter- 
esting to strangers. Each side of the square is 
furnished with statues of the sovereigns of Eng- 
land, beginning with Edward the First, and 
ending with George the Third. There is a 
statue of Charles the Second in the centre, in 
whose reign the present structure was built, the 
old one being destroyed by the fire of Lon- 
don. 

And now for the Bank of England. It is but 
little we have opportunity to say, and therefore 
we must make haste and say it. This is so im- 
mense and varied a building, calculated as it is 
for the grand money transactions of the govern- 
ment and kingdom, that a volume might be 
written about it. It is about a hundred years 
since the first stone of the present building was 
laid on the ground occupied by the house and 
garden of the first governor. Sir John Houblon. 
It was, however, only a small part of the build- 



THE BANK. 175 

ing that was then erected. It has been en- 
larged from time to time, and now is one of 
the noblest structures in the metropolis. It is 
built on the pattern of various Grecian and Ro- 
man edifices, and combines strength, beauty, 
and convenience, in a high degree. The south 
side measures three hundred and sixty-five feet, 
the west four hundred and forty, the north four 
hundred and ten, and the east two hundred and 
forty-five feet. Within this space are nine open 
courts, a spacious rotunda, numerous public 
offices, court and committee-rooms, an armoury,, 
&c., engraving and printing offices, a library, 
and many convenient apartments for officers and 
servants. Below are vast vaults for the coin 
and bullion. 

As public buildings have more than once 
fallen in London before the power of mobs, the 
Bank has been constructed in so judicious and 
substantial a form, that no fears are entertained 
for its security on that head ; nor, I am happy to 
say, on any other, that I know of. The com- 
pany, therefore, may safely be entrusted with 
our young friends' savings; and be it remem- 



176 GUILDHALL. 

bered, that many who possessed thousands there, 
began by laying up small sums of money. 

Admission to the Mansion House is frequently 
gained by the introduction of a police-officer, 
who may place street offenders very unexpected- 
ly in its magistrate's court! 

The inside of this official residence of the lord 
mayor is rather magnificent than convenient. 
The rooms are too dark, and the style of deco- 
ration is heavy; but many improvements have 
recently been made. The state bed cost three 
thousand guineas! Now, either its occupants 
sleep ill in it, or its splendours are lost upon 
them. The Egyptian Hall and ball-room are 
highly worthy of attention, especially when 
lighted up for company. 

Guildhall is not far distant. It is partly an- 
cient, and partly new. It is the public hall of 
the city of London, in which are held various 
courts, the meetings of the citizens to elect their 
members of parliament and city officers, and in 
which most of the grand metropolitan entertain- 
ments are given. In the year 1814, the allied 
sovereigns honoured it with a visit: their enter- 



ST. Paul's 177 

tainment cost twenty thousand pounds! The 
hall itself is the large Gothic apartment into 
which strangers first enter: it will contain more 
than six thousand persons — I suppose standing. 
Two rude and barbarous figures at the western 

P end attract the notice of the vulgar: they are 
called Gog and Magog, and are supposed to 
represent ancient Saxon personages. 

Passing hence down Cheapside, near the end, 
we gain a sight of the proud dome of London — 
St. Paul's Cathedral. We can do scarcely more 
than take our twopenny-worth of observation on 
the occasion, which is but a glance at the fabric. 
We may observe, first, that an edifice for Chris- 
tian worship has existed on this spot nearly one 

W thousand three hundred years. The old cathe- 
dral was the most stupendous ecclesiastical struc- 
ture in the kingdom. It had a tower of vast 
dimensions in the centre, which, with its spire, 
was five hundred and twenty feet in height. But 
the building was so much damaged by the great 
fire of 1666, that it was determined to take it 
down, and build afresh from the ground: this was 
accomplished, as I suppose every one knows, by 

i5 



178 , ST. Paul's. 

Sir Christopher Wren. The dimensions strike 
the eye as magnificent, without reference to the 
exact measurement, which, however, we give. 
The length is five hundred and fourteen feet, 
the breadth two hundred and eighty-six, the 
diameter of the cupola one hundred and forty- 
five; the whole height four hundred and four 
feet, whilst the grand circumference of the build- 
ing is two thousand two hundred and ninety-two 
feet! 

The effect to the eye, within or without, is 
indeed magnificent, and is peculiarly impressive, 
when we reflect that the whole was planned 
under the narrow canopy of one head, which 
arranged, with successful science, the innumera- 
ble portions of the stupendous fabric ! 

From the floor to the whispering gallery are 
two hundred and eighty steps, and to the ball in 
all six hundred and sixteen. The weight of the 
copper ball is five thousand pounds ; that of the 
cross three thousand three hundred and sixty. 
The extent of ground occupied by the cathedral 
is more than two acres. It was built at the 
national expense in thirty-five years, and cost a 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY^ 179 

million and a half of money. It was completed 
in 1710. The bell of the clock has been heard 
at twenty miles' distance: the hands of the dial 
are nine feet long. 

We must now pass on to Westminster, una- 
ble to notice a number of grand buildings, civil 
and religious, on the present occasion. We pro- 
ceed under Temple Bar, the only one of the city 
gates left standing. Westminster- Abbey, or West- 
monastery^ is an object possessing an equal de- 
gree of interest with St. PauFs; to some perhaps, 
superior, but it is of another kind. Here we 
see the genius, science, and zeal of ancient days, 
remaining still an object of admiration, even to 
the least informed spectator. The monastery was 
originally founded by one of the Saxon kings 
during the Heptarchy; but being destroyed 
by the Danes, was rebuilt by another of those 
princes, and again by Edward the Confessor. One 
of the popes made it a place for the inauguration 
or assumption of royalty, by the kings of Eng- 
land. The greater part of the present church 
was built by Henry the Third, and Edward the 
First ; but many additions have since been made 



180 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



to it. It is now a beautiful specimen of a sort 
of architecture, of which the metropolis has not 
many examples — the Gothic or pointed style. 
The two western towers, the rich windows, 
arched buttresses, the groined and fretted roof, 
clustered columns, stained glass, and ancient 
monuments, (amongst which are the tombs of 
many of our early kings, chief statesmen, and 
men of genius ;) all these things combine to 
render Westminster Abbey, though not so vast 
a structure as St. Paul's, one as well calculated 
to occupy a leisure day, and to afford many 
succeeding subjects of reflection. 

Immediately behind the choir of the church, 
is the chapel of St, Edward the Confessor. In 
this chapel is the tessellated shrine of its reputed 
saintly founder, whose remains are enclosed in 
an iron-bound chest in the upper part. Here 
likewise are the monuments of Henry the Third, 
Edward the First, Queen Eleanor, Henry the 
Fifth, Edward the Third, and of many more, 
famous in British history. On a wooden bar, 
that extends between the entrance-towers, is the 
helmet worn by Henry the Fifth, at the battle 



HENRY THE SEVENTH'S CHAPEL. 181 

of Agincourt ; and against the columns are his 
shield and war saddle. The coronation chairs 
of the sovereigns of this kingdom, are preserved 
under this venerable roof The oldest was made 
^ in the time of Edward the First. Beneath the 
K seat, is the far famed stone, brought by that am- 
W bitious spoliator, from Scone in Scotland, on 
which their ancient kings were crowned. The 
pi' prophetic tradition concerning it was, that wher- 
ever that stone was moved, the kingdom would 
remove with it. The prediction seems accom- 
plished now, although it certainly was not so 
until the union of the crowns. 

»An angle of this edifice has been set apart 
for the muses, and has obtained the appropriate 
name of Poet'^s Corner. Monuments containing 
the great names of English literature, are here 
arranged by themselves. 

Adjoining to the east end of the Abbey 
Church, is Henry the Seventh'^s Chapel, the most 
elaborate specimen of gothic architecture in the 
metropolis. It was built by him, as a place of 
interment for himself and family. The whole 
interior is covered with a net-work of tracery and 



182 



HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 



gothic chiseling. Until the time of Charles 
the First, none but royal bones were permitted 
to repose here ; but since then, a great number 
of other illustrious persons have been admitted. 
At a short distance from the Abbey/ and 
from each other, are the two Houses of Parlia- 
ment. The House of Commons was a beautiful 
building, dedicated to St. Stephen, and given 
by Edward the Sixth to the Commons for their 
accommodation whilst sitting. The interior of 
the House of Lords, is hung with celebrated 
tapestry, representing the defeat of the Spanish 
Armada. 



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